Mysterious Painter
by Lmb111514
Summary: Hobbies are something we each love to do; what one person likes, could be completely different from another person's. For the Seville's, each had their own individual hobbies- science for Simon and food for Theodore. But what is Alvin's? Well, let's just say it's not what everyone would expect from the confident, pranking boy…AU two-shot!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I know, I have stories I need to work on, but I to this idea on the eighth of January and was sucked into it. This is the most I have written in one period of time- especially in just a week or so! I have always wanted to write one of those one-shots that are 20,000 words long. This, instead turned out to be almost 40,000 words, so I am splitting it in half, making it a two-shot. I hope you enjoy this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Alvin and the Chipmunks!**

Mysterious Painter

The hallways of the elementary school were packed, as students ran from place to place bouncing basketballs, chatting with friends, and messing with others. School had just ended, shown by all the cars pulling up to the building, waiting on their kids or younger siblings.

Off in one corner of the school, stood one group- consisting of two boys and three girls. They laughed and talked as they stood by the door to their last class of the day, waiting for the last of them to leave the room.

"Uggh, what's taking Alvin so long?" Brittany grumbled. They shrugged at the questioned, but continued to wait. As he finally stepped out of the room, the groups eyes all stared at the poster board sized paper under his arm.

"What's that, Alvin?" Theodore wondered. He bit his lip, uncharacteristically nervous for him.

"Just something I stashed here this morning. Why don't you guys head on home, I'll be there later. I have to do something first…" He brushed off. They group shared confused and curious looks, but nodded.

Saying goodbye, they left the school to head home. When they had left, Alvin quickly followed their path, but when he got to the sidewalk outside of the building doors, he turned left, heading towards the high school building.

The school they went to consisted of four buildings. The smallest was a little preschool and day care center for ages 2 to 5. At six, students would move from that building to the next one: the elementary school, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. Alvin and the others were currently in third grade, having been in that grade for two months now.

The third building was the middle school, going from sixth to eighth grade. And the final building was a High School, from grades nine to twelve- which was where Alvin was heading right now. Actually, he had been heading over to here repetitively since first and second grade.

Really, it only started because of Ms. Danvers. The Seville's neighbor had taken a liking to Alvin and often let him hide in her house when he was running away from his siblings, the girls, or some person he pranked. She ended up inviting Alvin over often to eat cookies, watch, movies, play games, and talk.

Ms. Danvers was a widow who had lost her husband a few years earlier to a heart attack. She was an English teacher for most of her life, but was retired now, staying at him and babysitting her grandkids. But, her husband's passion was painting.

She told Alvin that that was how they had met: she was writing a children's book and, when a friends of hers said they knew someone who was really good at drawing, they introduced the two to one another. They wrote and illustrated a few books together, continuing that into their married life.

One of the rooms in the house was her husband's art studio, untouched or messed with since his death. After seeing Alvin's look of awe and wonder, she often let him wander to that room and spend hours in there, reading through her husband's analysis and study of art. He'd often bring them with him when he left, reading them any time he could- in class, at home, before bed, after waking up.

It took a bit, as his reading still needed work, but Ms. Danvers and Dave helped him whenever they were near or he came to them for help with words foreign to his young mind. Thanks to his determination, his reading skills dramatically improved and he found himself reading faster and faster through each pamphlet and book.

He had started with small sketches, copying what the books showed, but soon he found himself struck with inspiration. He soon asked Dave to take him to the store so he could buy his first ever sketchbook. When he decided to show Ms. Danvers them, she smiled and said there was someone she would like him to meet.

So, with Dave's permission, she took him to school, to Alvin's confusion, and brought him into the High School Building. Everyone they passed greeted her, as she and her husband had taught here for decades before they retired; the staff either having worked with them or having been taught by them.

Soon, they reached the art classrooms that were Ms. Danver's destination all along. Encouraging him to follow her into the room, where a man in his late forties stood, sorting through papers on his desk. This was when he met Mr. Danvers, Ms. Danvers son and the art teacher at the High School. After hesitantly showing him his sketches at Ms. Danvers encouragement, Alvin agreed to come to the art room every other day to work with Mr. Danvers and shape his skills more.

They often called him a child prodigy, because of his art skills at such a young age; they said that his paintings rivaled professional artists work who had been studying for a lot more years than him. That was back at the start of first grade. Two years later, he was still coming and it was quickly becoming his favorite thing to do.

But, despite the regularity in which he came to the High School Art Classroom, he was really worried now, more than ever before. Under his arm was an art board. He had spent the past few weeks painting it; it was his first painting that he did independently.

He created everything himself, with no help, keeping the whole painting a secret from everyone. Now, he was finished and was bringing it to the art room to show Mr. Danvers. Reaching the classroom, he sighed before opening the door. Mr. Danvers was sitting at his desk, writing something down.

"M-Mr. Danvers?" Alvin questioned before mentally facepalming himself at his stuttering. Looking up, the man smiled at the young boy.

"Hello Alvin. Did you finish the painting?" He questioned, seeing the art board in Alvin's hands. Alvin nodded, walking towards the desk. Handing it over, he nervously watched as Mr. Danvers pulled back the cover to show the painting. He sighed, staring down at the painting in his hands. He appeared to think for a bit, before speaking.

"Alvin, do you mind pulling up a chair and sitting down?" Alvin gulped at the question, fearing the worst, but nodded, walking over and grabbing a chair behind an easel, sliding it in front of the desk before jumping up on it. Mr. Danver's stared at the art board for a little bit longer, eyes analyzing it, before looking up and smiling at Alvin. That smile made Alvin relax and stop worrying.

"Brilliant, Alvin- even better than I expected it would be; and I already expected it to be amazing." He stated, setting the art board down gently on his desk. He was silent for a while, lost in thought. Alvin, sensing the depth of his thoughts, took his gaze away, gazing around the room at all the pictures and art work from current and past students- some of them were even painted by Mr. Danvers when his father taught here and he still went to High School, looking as if they were just painted today, rather than decades ago.

"Alvin…your painting skills are amazing; they are even better than most of my high schooler's paintings- and they've been training under me and others for years. You have a natural gift, something you are born with and learn quickly- a true child prodigy." Alvin blushed; they always called him that, and every time they did, he remembered back when he asked Dave what it meant, and turned shy- something otherwise impossible to the suave chipmunk, "And I can tell you truly love art." Alvin nodded furiously at that; it was his favorite thing!

"Alvin, would you like to become a part of my annual art show?" He questioned. Alvin froze at that, shocked. The Art show was for Middle and High School students who, after taking art classes with Mr. Danvers and others, could request an audition of sorts. Then they would draw or paint a picture and submit it to Mr. Danvers. If he accepted, it would be their first art board in the art show and, over the year, they would continue making others to put alongside it. It was hard to get in- so the fact that Alvin even had the possibility of joining, was incredible.

"Y-You want me to join your art show?" He whispered and Mr. Danvers nodded, smiling.

"You can look at this painting as your audition piece." He explained, "The first piece of yours in the art show." Alvin was ecstatic at this; it was his dream that his art would go somewhere- he just never thought that would happen so early!

The thought of people walking by and stopping to see his art, see his…name…Alvin froze at that thought; he had yet to tell his brothers and friends about his art. Honestly, he was worried about what they would think- to them, he was the jokester, the one that could care less about school. What would they think if they learned of him painting? Would they think it was lame? Or ridiculous? Sensing Alvin's thoughts, Mr. Danvers spoke.

"If you are worried about what your friends will think, I have a solution to avoid that." He stated. At that, Alvin looked up, curious, "When I was a kid, I came up with an idea. I call it The Mysterious Painter." He started, "My plan was to find a student, incredibly gifted at art, and have them take on this…name. They would be a secret, submitting paintings into my art show, under their new name." He used his hands a lot, trying to find the right words.

"They would have their own section for their art, for them to use every year, with no hint as to who was really behind the paintings. I figured it would add something interesting to the art show, and help a student who has an amazing gift, but not the expected attitude to go with that talent." Mr. Danvers grinned here, obviously thinking about the mischievous things the boy in front of him has done over the years, "Or if they wanted to just stay anonymous, they could with this idea." He paused here, thinking.

"If you were to accept, you would take on this name, and submit your art work every year to my art show, for as long as you want. I, my mother, and Dave will help you throughout the year, planning this but still keeping up with your classes. It will also be like an extra class for you. Just like now, you would come to my classroom everyone other day after school and work on art, whether on the art show paintings or just practicing is up to you. And, after the art show, you would get a grade as if you had taken the actual art class yourself." He stated.

"If you were to say no though, I would understand. It is a big responsibility that is asking a lot of time and work. Despite your talent, you are only in Third Grade. The choice is yours to make…" He smiled warmly here, patient as always. Alvin folded his arms, furrowing his brows as he thought.

It was a big assignment, one that would take a lot of time. But, he already was coming here every other day to paint or draw anyway, now he just had a goal to work towards. It would be anonymous; and more than likely make people curious. What could be a better prank or more fun than keeping such a secret from everyone, even his own brothers? Having made his decision, he looked up.

"Sure Mr. Danvers, I'll be your 'Mysterious Painter'!" He exclaimed, grinning.

Life moved quickly after that; Alvin would often spend the days thinking about his art pieces, trying to figure out what he should paint. He planned to make about sixteen paintings this year for the art show which would happen in about six months time. Alvin was incredibly nervous about it and often spent his free time in the art classrooms or at Ms. Danvers, painting and sketching his plans.

Of course, he could abandon everything else, so he kept being the mischievous kid everyone met; playing pranks, making jokes, and teasing Brittany. It actually helped, doing all that; it kept his mind off the art show and allowed him to relax. But, though it was stressful, it was a good kind. Like an exciting buildup to something good. Alvin just hoped everyone loved his paintings.

Finally, the day came for the art show. There was three nights, three nights for anyone to come. If one night, they had plans and couldn't make it, then they had to other times to see it. It was always an event looked forward to. Mr. Danvers has been doing this show for almost 25 years, the first ten being with his father, and before that, his father did the art show throughout his whole teaching career. It was famous statewide and covered in dozens of papers for the time leading up to it and after it.

"Come on guys, let's go!" Dave called up the stairs as the boys were getting ready.

"So where are we going?" Theodore wondered, straightening his green jacket.

"To the art show. You know, the same one we went to last year?" Alvin sighed.

"Oh…" He added.

"It's at the High School; Dave said he's been going for years, since he was our age." Simon stated, fixing his glasses. Alvin sighed.

"Dave at our age; something I can't even imagine…" He muttered. Alvin was excited for tonight, and if he could, he would already be down the stairs and in the car, yelling for everyone to hurry up like Dave was doing. But, his place in the art show was a secret so he couldn't act too excited or they could start suspecting. Finally, the boys were dressed and in the car, heading to the High School.

They stopped for a moment to pick up Jeanette, Brittany, and Eleanor before continuing on. The place was packed as it was the first night of the art show. The boys and girls stayed close to Dave, walking from each section. Each section had a theme or different type of art. One section was based on clay creations, another on photography.

One section was a sort of bookcase with glass, holding dvd cases and covers. Eleanor was especially captivated by one section filled with rocking chairs or all different colors, carved beautifully. While Alvin was staring at one of the rocking chair at how the person fluidly blended their colors, Brittany noticed something.

"Woah…" Her voice was full of awe and wonder at what she was looking at. Curious, the others turned to see what caused such a reaction.

"Hmmm…The Mysterious Painter. We haven't seen this section before." Simon recalled.

"According to the plaque, it is a new section, an 'anonymous collage' of paintings from one student." Jeanette read, narrowing her eyes to read the plaque.

"One person painted all of these?" Eleanor was shocked. Dave sent a sly look to Alvin which was, luckily, missed by everyone.

"It would appear so. They seem to have a theme…Water, would you say?" Dave guessed, looking from each picture that focused on a different type of water- streams, rain, the ocean, etc. All the pictures were done in the same water colors, beautifully done to perfection.

"A High Schooler painted all of these?" Eleanor repeated, still shocked.

"Maybe Mr. Danvers painted these." Brittany wondered. Simon and Jeanette shook their heads.

"No, it specifically says 'student'." Jeanette countered.

"And it may not even be a high schooler. Ben Fuller from seventh grade made that clay pot over there." Theodore remembered, pointing over at it.

"At this skill…" Simon shook his head, "No, it has to be a high schooler." Alvin inwardly smirked, shows what you know Si…They stayed there for a little while longer, not blocking the paintings though as more people came to check and gasped in awe at the unexpected sight. Alvin hung back, resting against a brick column that went from the floor to the ceiling, filled with happiness at everyone's reactions of his paintings. He had worked so hard on them, and now his efforts were paying off. After another half hour, Dave and the kids all headed back to the car, heading back to both homes for the night.

The rest of the school year, about a month and a half more, passed by quickly. Alvin, of course, got an A on his extra class, thanks to everyone's response to the Mysterious Painter's section of the art show. The newspapers practically clawed the story up, writing about each individual painting, placing pictures of each one in their stories. Alvin secretly, got a copy of each newspaper involving his paintings, and taped them up on the walls of his painting room.

As they had two extra rooms down in the basement, Dave gave one to Simon for his science experiments, and the other he gave to Alvin(Theodore's room was more of the kitchen really, where he baked and cooked as often as he could). Alvin quickly set the rule up that no one was allowed to go into his room, as that was where he had hung up all his paintings that Mr. Danvers had given back to him after the art show and his other artwork.

Dave had taken to buying him painting sets for his birthday in secret, handing him the presents when Simon and Theodore weren't near. He even came home from the store with new paint brushes and colors, along with test tubes and baking supplies for Theodore and Simon. The floor was covered in news papers as was the tables in there, so as to not make a mess. For once, Alvin was determined not to make a mess and to keep everything clean.

As the years went on, Alvin kept improving his skills, working as hard as he could to learn everything there was to know about art. He studied countless artists in all ranges of arts, intently focusing on each one. But, his favorite by far was painting- pottery and carving didn't really call to him like painting did. Neither did the digital side of art; he preferred to work with paints and his hands rather than computer graphics.

His popularity grew; both as Alvin Seville, and as The Mysterious Painter. The two were so different from one another that no one suspected them of being the same person- he wasn't even in the polls. As for the polls, they were created when Alvin was in fifth grade.

People were so curious as to the identity of the Mysterious Painter. So the school newspaper had taken to keeping a yearlong poll and column listing people's speculations on who it was. They studied all the students in art classes, eliminating all the people who had entered other things in the art show. Alvin couldn't blame them for not figuring it out; he was only in elementary school and all the people they were searching were in High School.

Alvin took great pleasure in the fact that no one other than Ms. Danvers, Mr. Danvers, and Dave knew it was him. He frustrated all his friends when he often teased them about their interest in the polls, saying that he didn't see the point of the Mysterious Painter, all it was was 'a bit of colors swirled on a page'.

Brittany was especially furious at his mockery of the Mysterious Painter. She had become a big fan of his, one of the leaders in all the polls and the column. She was a part of the school newspaper, having joined to be a part of the Mysterious Painter section of the paper. Surprisingly, she found her passion there; in taking pictures and writing stories about what went on in school.

More often than not, Alvin and Brittany's fights involved the Mysterious Painter, something Alvin found incredibly ironic: Here she was, yelling at him for his 'idiocy', stating that he just didn't understand the meaning of art, or the effort put into just one painting. He knew those all too well, though Brittany didn't know that.

He often chuckled in the fight(much to Brittany's frustration) or randomly when thinking, at the fact that here they were fighting, and Brittany was both tearing Alvin down and raising him up on a platform without even knowing she was. In the end, she couldn't take anymore and would storm off in frustration.

All in all, life was good and getting better for Alvin. His art was no longer stressful because of nervousness. Instead, when he was too caught up in life, he would go to his painting room and draw for hours, focusing only on the art in front of him. When he was done, he would leave the room, a lot calmer and carry on with what stressed him out.

Middle School came, and with that came more homework, choosing electives, and joining clubs. While Theodore and Eleanor joined The Baking Club, Simon joined The Science Olympiad, Brittany stayed in the Journalism Club, and Jeanette became a Librarian's Assistant, Alvin decided to not join any club, choosing to stick with his hobby.

He was tempted to join the art club run by Mr. Danvers, but as he had put the idea into his friend's heads that he knew nothing about art, he figured it would be strange if he suddenly showed the desire to start painting. So, he stayed with the idea of going to Mr. Danvers room every other day(Tuesdays and Thursdays there, Saturdays at Ms. Danvers), ignoring Simon and the others when they said he needed to join a club and listed the clubs he could join.

Mr. Danvers already considered him an honorary member of the art club, and considered their afternoons together as private art lessons, so that was enough of a club for Alvin. Sixth grade passed, as did seventh, each year's paintings have different themes. Sixth was the moon; Seventh was cats(tigers, panthers, domestic cats, etc.).

Eighth year seemed as if it would be a sad one as Ms. Danvers passed away at the age of 84. She had died in her sleep in the summer between seventh and eighth year, sending a mournful tone throughout the town. Mr. Danvers was distraught, as was Alvin. The funeral was planned two weeks after her death and in that time Alvin kicked it into high gear, spending all day in his painting room, late into the night as well eating there to the concern of his family and friends: they knew Alvin had cared very much about Ms. Danvers and had spent so much time over the years at her home; they hoped the news wasn't hitting him to hard.

The day before the funeral, Alvin grabbed his skateboard and helmet(both designed like his cap and shirt) as well as his finished project, and skateboarded over to Mr. Danvers house. Leaving his skateboard and helmet on the sidewalk, Alvin knocked lightly as he rocked back and forth, nervous energy rushing through his bloodstream. He smiled slightly as Mr. Danvers opened the door. Though his mother's death had hit him hard, he was still just as happy as always, still the same old Mr. Danvers. He seemed surprised to see Alvin.

"Hello Alvin. What brings you here?" He wondered. Alvin bit his lip, holding the project vertically behind his back so Mr. Danvers wouldn't see.

"I…Well, I have a gift for you." Alvin admitted. Mr. Danvers raised an eyebrow at that.

"Really?" He stated, stepping back and holding the door open for Alvin to enter. Kicking off his shoes, he slowly followed Mr. Danvers into the living room. When Mr. Danvers sat down in his chair, Alvin stopped in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the art board from behind his back and held it out to Mr. Danvers. Both eyebrows shot up at that in curiosity and confusion. Reaching forward, he gently took the board from Alvin.

"Is this your first painting for the art show?" He wondered. Alvin paused here.

"Yes and no." At that Mr. Danvers grew even more curious. Reaching up, he pulled back the cover to see the painting beneath it. He sat there for a moment, staring down at the painting. Nervous, Alvin held his hands behind his back, wringing them nervously, rocking back and forth slowly. After a few moments of silence, Mr. Danvers looked up, eyes wet, a few tears sliding down his cheeks. He smiled bittersweetly at Alvin. As he wiped away his tears, Alvin spoke.

"It is a gift for you; a tribute to mama Danvers." Alvin explained, his heart panging at that name she always insisted he call her, "I got the idea after the…news, and just finished it this morning." He paused before continuing on to his next words, "It is for you to keep, but it does have a part in my art show section. It is the inspiration. This coming school year, the theme will be more of a tribute. A tribute to mama Danvers." He confessed, holding back tears. Mr. Danvers set the art board down in the table next to the chair, before standing up and hugging Alvin tightly.

"Thank you Alvin. Thank you so much…" He whispered shakingly. Alvin nodded, returning the hug, burying his head in Mr. Danvers shoulder as tears fell from his eyes. After a few minutes, they pulled apart and sat down, both of them this time. As they were about to speak, Mrs. Danvers walked into the room.

"The children are finally asleep; they kept trying to stay up late to play on their phones. Only ten and twelve and they already do that…" She sighed. They had two other children, who were already grown up, married, and having kids themselves. Looking into the room, she brightened when she saw Alvin. She had often visited Ms. Danvers when Alvin was there and knew about the whole Mysterious Painter secret.

"Alvin! What brings you here so late?" She wondered. She grew concerned when she saw that both had been crying recently. Sniffing, Mr. Danvers sat up and picked up the painting again.

"He brought us a gift." He explained, handing the art board to her. As she stared down at the picture, she grew emotional as well. Wiping away tears with her sleeve, she looked up at Alvin and beamed.

"Thank you Alvin; it is so beautiful…" She whispered. After hugging him as well, Alvin stood.

"I should be getting back, it's almost bedtime." He stated. They nodded and walked to the door with him. Pulling on his shoes, he stepped through the door held open by Mrs. Danvers. Before he left, he turned back to them, "I'll see you tomorrow." They nodded at that, smiling slightly. Reaching down, he strapped his helmet back on. Closing the fences gate behind him, he skateboarded home.

The funeral was beautiful; so many people turned up, past students and colleagues of Ms. Danvers as well as neighbors and extended family. Alvin was there with his brothers, Dave, and the girls, all dressed for the occasion. The flowers were beautiful; all of Ms. Danvers favorite kinds- Mr. Danvers had spent their married life bringing her that same bouquet randomly throughout the year as well as for special occasions.

What drew everyone's eyes though was the easel standing behind Ms. Danvers casket. Alvin had been quite shocked when he arrived and saw his gift to Mr. Danvers standing there behind Ms. Danvers casket. The painting was simple, done with pencils. In the painting stood Ms. Danvers, smiling and dressed in a beautiful gown.

She was standing in a beautiful field filled with beautiful flowers of all colors. She was standing sideways in the painting and walking towards the paintings other side. A bright light, shown from the direction she face, its light stretching across the page. The whole picture had a tinge of yellow to it, the yellow concentrating on the light as it slowly lit up the field, lighting up Ms. Danvers' face.

After seeing the painting, he met Mr. Danvers eyes, who grinned at him, mischief sparkling in his eyes. The ceremony that followed was beautiful, there was not a single dry eyes in the whole area. Silence filled the place, as peace and love filled each heart as they remembered the amazing woman that was Ms. Danvers.

A reception followed soon after, most of the crowd of colleagues and students heading home, leaving only family and close friends. Alvin, Dave, and the girls chose their table and sat down as the lunch started. Soft and beautiful music sounded across the pavilion as people chatted and laughed, reminiscing on Ms. Danvers and the beautiful ceremony as well as the painting that had been moved to the lunch and stood at the head of the pavilion. When Mr. Danvers walked over to their table, Brittany spoke up.

"Mr. Danvers," He turned to face her at that, "That painting, did you draw it yourself as a tribute to your mother?" She wondered. He smiled at that, looking back at the painting standing on the easel.

"No, it was actually a gift. The Mysterious Painter gave it to me as a way to remember my mother, but I couldn't bear the thought of not letting everyone else see it. My wife and I figured it would fit well into the funeral." The pavilion was silent at that, just at the mention of the Mysterious Painter. Alvin inwardly grinned, but blushed, at that.

"It was a gift? From the Mysterious Painter?" She wondered, as if she had just realized that, for the Mysterious Painter to be in the art show, Mr. Danvers would have to know who they were. He smiled and nodded. Looking over at Alvin briefly, who nodded his consent, figuring what was going to happen and trusting Mr. Danvers to not reveal his secret.

"Yes, I believe..." He leaned forward as if he had a secret to tell; which he probably did, "I believe they said it was the inspiration for this coming year's art show section." Brittany's eyes were wide at that, the possibilities racing through her mind. Alvin also noted that everyone else was shocked too, thinking over what Mr. Danvers just said.

"Inspiration? So this year's theme will be a tribute to Ms. Danvers?" Jeanette wondered. Mr. Danvers smiled at that and nodded.

"Well, I must be going. I believe my wife is signaling to me that she needs my help with our kids." And with that, the teacher was gone, leaving a shocked table behind him, excluding Alvin and Dave of course. Alvin spent the rest of the summer mostly in his painting room which had steadily grown more filled over the years.

All his past art show paintings were now hung on the walls, five years worth of them, decorating the room. He had also been given a lot of late Mr. Danvers art books and paintings, most of them his favorites. The rest went to Mr. Danvers, which he said he would display around his classrooms. Soon, the school year began, the girls and boys excited for their last year of middle school.

Brittany, fueled by Mr. Danvers words at the funeral lunch, made it her goal to get information from him on the Mysterious Painter. The second she got back, she wrote an article of this year's Mysterious Painter section theme for the art show. It raised a lot of excitement across all the buildings at school; everyone excited for the next art show.

Now, you could constantly see following Mr. Danvers around the school, asking for any bit of information on the Mysterious Painter. Alvin often teased her about that, saying that she was absolutely obsessed with The Mysterious Painter. He found it quite funny when she defended those statements, pretty much confirming that fact that she was obsessed with Alvin.

The others in the group had taken to joining the move to find out the identity of the Mysterious Painter. Simon and Jeanette had made some really good ideas as to who they could be, sometimes getting closer to the truth and sometimes moving further away. Alvin had learned to relax, as sometimes they got a little too close to the truth. One time was at lunch in October as they were talking about the Mysterious Painters identity.

"You know, I think the Mysterious Painter may be different than we think." Theodore stated, taking a bite of his pizza. Alvin stayed silent, but raised an eyebrow at the random statement.

"Why would you say that, Theo?" Eleanor wondered.

"Well, it's obviously all a secret. If I were them and wanted to keep the secret would I act like an art student? Or would I act as if I could care less about art as to not make anyone suspicious?" Alvin froze at such a statement, not liking what his thoughts were making of this new idea. Everyone paused at Theodore's words, thinking it over.

"He could want to keep it all quiet. Maybe he never wanted to tell us their identity; just wants to be anonymous…" Simon added, furrowing his eyebrows. It was silent as everyone thought that over.

"What, so you think they are someone like Alvin?" Brittany wondered. Alvin tensed even more at that; not liking that his own name had come up in a conversation to compare him to the Mysterious Painter. He tried to act as casual as possible and untense his shoulders(which he failed) as everyone turned to face him, lost in thought.

Was this it? Were they going to find out the truth right here, right now because of only one statement? He pushed his food around his plate, trying to ignore the stares and pretend like he wasn't even listening. To Alvin's immense relief, they all started laughing.

"No, not like Alvin. I don't think a painter as good as The Mysterious Painter would be as rude about art as Alvin is, even if he was trying to hide his identity." Brittany chuckled, shaking her head as they all turned back to their food. Well you're wrong about that, Alvin thought as he took a drink from his milk carton to hide his smirk from them.

"But you are on to something Theo. We keep searching the Art students, and so far have come up with nothing. I'll talk to the Journalism club about it tonight at our meeting; see what they think about that idea." Brittany concluded. And with that, lunch carried on smoothly as before.

The school actually changed their directions, listening to Theodore's idea and looking at other students besides the ones in art classes and the art club. The rest of the year followed quickly and soon, it was the first day of the art show.

Everyone was amazed by the Mysterious Painter's section once again, Alvin took pride in as he stood back and watched while his family and friends walked from picture to picture, studying them; Brittany was taking pictures of them for the newspaper. Mr. Danvers statement that summer was true, to Brittany's excitement. The theme was a tribute to late Ms. Danvers.

She was especially excited to see the painting from the funeral standing in the middle of the section, Mr. Danvers having loaned it for the art show. And below it was a note, written by the Mysterious Painter. Brittany read it aloud to everyone who was near her, reading it over and over again in her head.

This past summer, as many of you know, Ms. Danvers passed in her sleep. She was a beautiful woman, with a kind heart and brilliant mind. She was one of the best teachers here at our school; and throughout her life she changed so many people's lives for the better. She always sought to help anyone she could; no one was a lost cause in her mind. She was dear to many people, including myself. It is because of her that I got into painting; she showed me this amazing world and helped me navigate it and learn whatever I could. She never thought that I couldn't learn something- she just believed I could do whatever I wanted. The world has lost a beautiful person- Goodbye Mama Danvers, and thank you for everything.

The Mysterious Painter

Brittany took pictures of it, more than likely making it the focus of her next article for the school paper. Alvin wasn't concerned; he spent hours on it, making sure to keep it personal, yet vague. And as for the 'Mama Danvers' part, he wasn't the only one who called her that.

Many past students called her that, as did their children- Alvin was just the one of a few that truly saw her as a surrogate Grandmother and called her nothing else. But, the list was too broad for her to narrow it down to him. And Ms. Danvers had taught so many people about art alongside her husband and son that she couldn't find him out that way either.

Finally, they all headed back home for the night. The rest of the year was busy, as they all finished creating their school schedules for next year when they would start high school. To everyone's surprise, Alvin was taking P.E. along with Art as his electives. When asked about Art, he stated that, 'He might as well try to see what the big deal about it was.'

Summer went by slowly, each spending the day around town at the beach, the mall, at diners, etc. The group of friends stuck together, enjoying their time off from school. But, school slowly crept up on them and the first day of school started.

Art was Alvin's last class of the day, which made it easier to spend Tuesday and Thursday afternoons with Mr. Danvers; he would just take longer to pack up then everyone else on those days, or lean back in his chair and watch everyone else pack up and put away their art boards with a condescending smirk on his face.

Then, when they were all gone, he'd go to the closet, pull his hidden art supplies out, and get to really working. The students in his art class hated him. They saw him as an arrogant jerk who was in there just to get a quick grade as he usually just sat in the back, teasing everyone- not about their paintings(he wouldn't ever do that; that was taking the game too far), but if they snapped at him for not working or for making stupid stick figure paintings, he was tease them about how 'he still did not see the point of art'.

After a few weeks, they all ignored him as if he wasn't even in the class, which allowed him to actually work on his artwork in the back of the classroom, away from curious eyes; making his paintings get finished quicker than just having his afternoons and time at home to paint them.

There were a few close calls at times, when people glanced over, saw him painting, and grew frustrated at him painting 'stick figures and squiggly lines' and stood up to check what he was drawing. But he always dodged them from seeing his work, keeping them occupied with his words and soon they forgot about wanting to see his paintings and went back to work.

The few times they insisted on seeing his paintings that 'mocked art', Mr. Danvers would stop them and ask them to go back to their seat which solved that problem. There was a really close call one day though; Mr. Danvers son got sick and had to go home halfway through the day. Mrs. Danvers was visiting her parents a few towns over, so he had to leave school early, leaving a substitute in his place.

Usually, Alvin would just spend that class painting stick figures again, but the teacher had not been in the classroom when class started, having gone to print something out up at the office. None of the class knew about the sub, so they got to work; Alvin working on one of his last paintings for the art show that was in a month or so.

Imagine his horror when he saw an adult coming into the room, glanced over, and saw their usual substitute. His name was Mr. Truman and he was incredibly passionate about art- one of those teachers that took their subject incredibly serious and hated anyone who made a mockery of their subject and didn't care.

So, of course, he absolutely hated Alvin, having subbed for Mr. Danvers a few times over the year, and had no clue why Mr. Danvers hadn't kicked him out of the class. According to Mr. Danvers, he had often urged him to drop Alvin from the class, but Mr. Danvers always held tight to his class and said no.

Alvin's mind whirled as Mr. Truman sat down at Mr. Danvers desk. The students, noticing they had a sub, sat up straighter and stopped talking- all of them knew Mr. Truman enough not to mess around in the classes he subbed.

Alvin knew that if he just covered up his painting and sat back in his chair to play his usual persona, it would infuriate Mr. Truman and he would march over to see his work. But, if he started working, the man would grow suspicious and curious and walk over to see what he was painting. Alvin had no clue what to do…

If he got up to put the painting back, Mr. Truman would stop him and check his painting, ruining that idea. He was definitely not going to paint over the painting; this one had been the toughest painting so far- he had spent the past month on it, trying to figure out how to finish it. Now, he was so close to being done and was not going to scrape his hard work. But what could he do?

He ignored the grins everyone in the class sent him. They could not understand why Mr. Danvers never talked to Alvin and stopped him from making a fool of his class. But Mr. Truman always did when he taught; not letting him get away with it. Of course, they would never tell Mr. Danvers this; they respected him immensely and knew he probably had his reasons, reasons he hadn't told them.

Mr. Truman looked up at Alvin; apparently Alvin had been sitting still for too long, thinking on what to do, showing by Mr. Truman's frustrated gaze. The student's eyes ping ponged between the two; it was rude how they acted to him, but honestly, Alvin knew he deserved it. They didn't know his whole attitude was an act, they thought he was truly that horrible and awful- if he was them, he would act the same way to them. But it still hurt to see the looks of hate.

Alvin froze in his seat as he stared intently down at him almost finished painting as Mr. Truman stood and made his way over to Alvin's easel. Suddenly someone came into the room. Everyone's heads snapped over to look and Alvin sighed in absolute relief at Mr. Danvers, holding the hand of his youngest son.

His eyes, looked between Alvin and Mr. Truman, taking in everything going on(especially Alvin's look of panic and Mr. Truman's stance that signaled he was making his way over to Alvin. Glancing at Alvin's art board, his own eyes widened at seeing the picture there, now understanding Alvin's panic.

"Hello Mr. Truman. Sorry to come unannounced, but my car won't start, so I have called a mechanic who won't be here for another hour. My son, Jeremy, wanted to come to my art class until then, if that's alright with you. He's following in my footsteps with a love for art." He explained. Mr. Truman smiled at that, looking down at the young boy.

"Of course Mr. Danvers, it is your classroom after all. I do have some things I have to do down at the office that I didn't finish this morning. If you want, I could go get those done. It will only take a few minutes and then I'll come back. But the class is yours until the mechanic comes." He pleasantly stated.

With that, Mr. Truman left the room, and Mr. Danvers took a seat at his desk, his son sitting down on a chair next to him. Alvin sighed and mouthed thank you to Mr. Danvers, who nodded and smiled in understanding. The rest of the class went smoothly, Mr. Truman returning about thirty minutes before the bell rang.

About five minutes before class ended, when everyone was putting away their supplies, Mr. Danvers got a call that the mechanic had arrived and left with his son. All in all, it was incredibly close, but Alvin managed to keep everything a secret.

A month later, the art show came: this year's Mysterious Painter theme was Locations. Each painting showed a lifelike picture of the big cities around the U.S.(Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, New York City, Las Vegas, etc). Something different than previous years, but breathtaking to everyone who saw them and how real each picture looked- as if they were actual photos.

Alvin chuckled as once again, Brittany was walking around, taking photos of each of the paintings while staring in awe at each one she saw. A blush rose on Alvin's face and he frowned, confused. Shaking his head, he focused on everyone marveling at his paintings, wondering just who was behind them.

The night ended and soon the rest of the year came. Finals were stressful to everyone; most complained why they had to take finals both in first semester and second as well, and no amount of logic from teachers or other students made them stop complaining. For art, they were to create a painting of a famous artist, which Alvin passed, having chosen Picasso.

The rest of the finals were finished quickly and Summer started once again, new classes already chosen for next year. Alvin kept art, to everyone's confusion and frustration, figuring it was because of the fact that, no matter how he acted, Mr. Danvers kept him in the class and gave him good grades. For Summer, they all went to New York City with Dave, the girls included.

They stayed there for a few weeks, visiting all through Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the other parts of New York City. The airport was chaotic; Theodore couldn't stop commenting on how big it was. Finally, the vacation was over and they headed home, relaxing for the next few weeks at home and around the town.

Sophomore year came and it was back to art class again; Mr. Danvers had arranged it so that he would once again have it as his last period. His other elective was Introduction to Film, which was a fun class where they watched old films and learned about the beginning of movies.

The newest topic on the Mysterious Painter was if they were male or female. There was quite the debate as each side studied the paintings to show if they showed anything. It was a common conversation at lunch between everyone; Alvin just sat there eating and tried not to laugh or show his amusement to the people who were defending the idea that the Mysterious Painter was a girl.

As for Brittany, she continued with asking Mr. Danvers for any information, which he of course never agreed to. It changed though when one Tuesday afternoon, when Alvin was packing up his painting supplies.

"A certain friend of yours has been asking me to get in contact with The Mysterious Painter." Mr. Danvers stated. Alvin paused in his actions, curious.

"Who? And why would they want to talk?" Alvin wondered.

"Well, besides the obvious," He grinned at that, thinking about everyone's thirst for more information about him, "They were wondering if you could paint them copies of past artwork. They said they really liked your paintings, a few in particular, and that photos didn't do them justice." He explained.

"Who was it?" Alvin questioned. Mr. Danvers grinned here; a sly, knowing grin.

"Brittany Miller." Alvin, who had went back to pack up, paused again, shocked.

"So she wants copies of the paintings?" Alvin knew a lot of people wanted that; he heard a lot of conversations between people who wished they had a copy of a certain Mysterious Painter's painting, but this was Brittany. He froze at that thought; what did it being Brittany have to do with anything? Simon had wanted his New York City Painting from this past year, but he never felt the urge to make him one, and he was his brother! "Which ones?" He wondered. Mr. Danvers grin widened here.

"So you're going to make them for her?" He inquired. Alvin shrugged, not sure, "She didn't tell me, but I'm sure you can get it out of her." With that, they were silent once more. Alvin finished packing up and left to go home, thinking about what Mr. Danvers had said.

Alvin wasn't busy right now; the art show was far away- he was mostly just throwing around ideas and making sketches- so he had the time to make the paintings. But, what if he made them for her, she told her friends, and then he was constantly getting requests on copies of paintings? But, Brittany was a lot more of a fan of his paintings than most people.

She had been a fan since the start of the section and defended his paintings, especially to Alvin. Would one or two paintings hurt? And besides, he could just write a letter saying not to announce it all as he didn't want request after request for his paintings, especially when he got busy.

"They'll be a Christmas Gift." Alvin decided right as he got home. Now he just had to figure out which ones were her favorite- he'll ask at lunch tomorrow.

Halfway through lunch, Alvin decided to find out now, while she was lost in thought.

"So, have you got any information on The Mysterious Painter?" He kept the teasing tone in his words, despite actually being curious about the answer. She paused in eating, glaring up at him.

"No I have not. But I'm going to keep trying. You may not understand, but it's exciting, trying to figure everything out." Brittany snapped.

"Any other angles you're going at? I mean you follow Mr. Danvers around all the time, you can't just be asking about his identity repeatedly!" Alvin exclaimed, grinning. Brittany glared at the dig.

"For your information, I'm also asking if I could possibly get copies of The Mysterious Painters paintings." She answered quickly.

"What? All the paintings? Just one? Your favorite?" Alvin feigned boredom, pushing his food around his plate.

"Just two; my two favorites. The painting with the panther in the tree and the ocean one from first year." She explained, smiling slightly as she remembered them. Bingo! Alvin thought in excitement. But, outwardly he just shrugged taking a bite as if he didn't think much of it. She growled slightly.

"You just wouldn't understand…" She muttered, stabbing a peach and eating it quickly. Over the next few months, Alvin focused on making those two paintings once again; making sure they were exact replicas of his first version. He spent hours on each, wanting to make them perfect for Brittany(A fact he tried not to think about too much).

He was nervous as, each year on Christmas, The Miller's and Seville's got together at her house to open presents. So he would be there when she opened them. But, he tried not to focus on that and more on the paintings and his finals coming up.

When school let out, he was almost done with the second paintings- the panther in the trees. He was going as slow as he could, not wanting to finish them and have them sitting right there for months, building up his nerves everytime he walked in the room.

Finally, the week before Christmas, they were finished. Borrowing some wrapping paper and tape from Dave, he carefully wrapped both gifts in his painting room(choosing the most common of all the wrapping papers as to not make people suspicious), writing a note for the gifts, same as the writing from the note to Ms. Danvers(thank goodness he learned Calligraphy…).

When he had finished, he sealed the note in an envelope, wrote 'Don't Open Until Christmas' one it, taped it to one of the presents. After writing Brittany's name on both presents wrapping paper, he set them aside and headed up to dinner, excited to sneak them over to Brittany's house later tonight when his brothers were busy and not paying attention.

Later that night, while his brothers were busy playing an intense game of slapjack, Alvin grabbed the presents and left the house on his skateboard. Their house was about three streets over so it only took a few minutes to get there.

Stashing his skateboard and helmet in a bush at the start of the street, he made his way on foot to their house. All the blinds were closed up and down the streets, so no one would see him unless they looked. And even if they did, he was wearing a black jacket with the hood up, instead of his signature jacket and hat- so they wouldn't know it was him.

Arriving at their house, he walked up the sidewalk. Looking around, he set the gifts down on the porch. Taking a deep breath, preparing himself, he rang the bell. He could hear it echoing around the house and heard a door open and footsteps get closer.

Turning on a dime, Alvin raced down the sidewalk to the street, running as fast as he could to get back to his skateboard and helmet. Hiding behind the bush, he watched as Ms. Miller opened the door, looking around. Frowning at seeing no one, something out of the corner of her eyes caught her interest.

Looking down, her eyebrows rose at the presents. Smiling, she bent down to pick them up. Before closing the door, she looked up and down the street once more and, finding nothing, went back inside. Sighing in relief, Alvin strapped made his way around the corner, away from the street, strapping on his helmet and riding his skateboard all the way home.

The rest of the week passed by fast, the excitement of Christmas building and building. Music played, songs were song, cookies were made, and presents were wrapped. Dave, Theodore, Simon, and Alvin spent the week watching Christmas movie after Christmas movie.

Theodore went crazy with the baking- cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, fudge, chocolate, ice cream, etc. They had so much left over that they ended up leaving them at people's doorsteps at night, which Theodore loved doing.

Finally Christmas morning arrived and, after packing up all their presents, they made their way to the Miller's house. Though Alvin was excited about his own presents and for his family when they open to presents he got them, he was incredibly nervous about the presents he got Brittany.

He knew she would like them, he just didn't know if he could keep his emotions in check and not freak out or give anything away. Calming himself, he instead focused on his brothers. Simon was rambling about the history of Christmas to Dave. Theodore was bouncing up and down in his seat, excited to open his presents and spend time with Eleanor.

Both Simon and Jeanette and Theodore and Eleanor had started dating this past year and spent most of their time over at their house. They watched movies, went on dates, played games, and fell more in love with one another.

Alvin took pleasure in teasing them about it all, but he couldn't help but noticed that every time he saw both couples together, a pang of sadness and longing went through him. Brittany was single too, surprisingly. There were a lot of guys at school who were interested in her, but she always turned them down.

The few times Alvin would ask her why she did that, she would just smile and go back to whatever she had been doing before. Alvin found it frustrating; he just wanted an answer, any would do- but the silence was agonizing.

On top of that, he always felt weird whenever he saw someone ask Brittany out, and the second she denied them, a shot of happiness went through him. It was strange so Alvin tried not to think about it, wanting to ignore it all. Alvin was shaken out of his thoughts by Theodore's voice.

"We're here!" He exclaimed as the car pulled into the Miller's driveway. Dave and the three boys got out of the car, grabbing the presents from the back. Ms. Miller, having heard the car pull up, opened the door and smiled at that.

"Hey boys." She greeted. They all smiled at her, grabbing the presents.

"Hi Ms. Miller." They chorused as they made their way into the house with all the gifts. Ms. Miller closed the door as they set the gifts around the tree. Alvin smiled as he saw the two couples shyly greet one another. Though they had been dating for months, they were still incredibly shy and awkward around each other.

"Funny how they're still acting like that, huh?" A voice behind him stated. Turning to face Brittany he smirked.

"Yeah, but a guess that's what makes them both such good couples." Alvin stated, shrugging.

"You out looking for any girlfriend yet?" There was a careful note to Brittany's voice, a wariness. Alvin brushed that aside though, snorting.

"Nope. Still as single as ever." He stated. He hesitated, but plowed on, "You?" She shook her head.

"Same here." They were pulled out of their conversation as Ms. Miller announced that it was time to open the presents. Soon the room was filled with gasps of excitement, laughter, and rushed words as tearing paper littered the room. After about thirty minutes, all the presents were unwrapped, the gifts set in piles by the person they belonged to.

"Well, that's all the Christmas presents till next year." Dave stated.

"Nope." Ms. Miller stood up at that, walking to the back of the tree, "We still have two more presents to open." She sat down on the floor again, holding two long, thin presents. Alvin's heart thudded as he recognized them as the one's he had dropped off. Everyone grew curious at seeing them.

"Who are they for?" Simon wondered.

"They are for Brittany. Someone dropped them off on our front porch the other day." She explained handing them to Brittany, who was confused, "I've been hiding them in the other room since then and put them behind the tree last night." As Brittany started down at the two gifts, everyone grew excited.

"Read the card first!" Jeanette exclaimed. Smiling in excitement and curiosity, Brittany pulled off the envelope, opening it and holding up the note inside, clearing her throat to read aloud.

"'Hello Brittany. I heard that you have been trying to contact me. Someone told me that these were your favorites, so I figured 'why not'? I hope you enjoy them, but please don't spread this around school; I couldn't imagine making even more replicas for everyone who would want one. Merry Christmas!

The Mysterious Painter'"

Brittany's voice was laced with confusion as she read, wondering what they meant. But, as her voice made to say the signature, it trailed off as her eyes widened.

"Brittany?" Eleanor wondered in concern. Brittany didn't seem to hear her though as she reread over the note again and again, mouthing the words to herself.

"Is there no signature?" Simon wondered.

"It-it says it's from 'The Mysterious Painter'." She whispered, but everyone heard. Eyes widened at that in shock. Alvin didn't acknowledge Dave's side glance over to him as an eyebrow rose in question and wonder. Staring down at the two presents, she moved to open the one in front of her.

She and everyone near her gasped at what was revealed- the ocean picture from Alvin's first art section. Brittany stared down at the replica, blinking wildly as if she couldn't believe what she was holding. Suddenly remembering she had two gifts from The Mysterious Painter, she sent that one gently on the floor next to her. Ripping open the last gift, she saw what she guessed she would see- the painting with the Panther in a tree at night time.

"He actually painted them for me." She whispered faintly, looking dazed. Dave chuckled lightly.

"It seems someone has a crush." He teased. Hearing his words, his brothers and the girls teased Brittany, assuming that's what Dave meant. But, according to the knowing and pointed gaze he sent to Alvin, he meant him. Alvin froze at the implications of that statement. He had a crush on Brittany? No, no he didn't.

But, why else would he make these paintings for her when so many others also wanted some? And what about how he felt when he saw other boys asking her out? Was he actually feeling jealous? It was with those thoughts, that the realization hit Alvin. He had a crush on Brittany! When did this start? He demanded of himself.

But, thinking back, he couldn't pinpoint where it started. He had always paid more attention to Brittany than to any other girls, and loved when he got to speak to her, whether they were fighting or not. He shook himself out of his thoughts as Jeanette spoke.

"Hey, there's something on the back of the note." She stated, having picked up the note. Alvin smirked; he had forgotten about what he had written on the back.

"'P.S. So as to stop the absolutely hilarious conversations, and get things cleared: I'm a guy. Also, we have a lot of amazing teachers here at our schools, throughout all four buildings. I think they deserve something special at this year's art show, don't you?'"

"Well, that certainly changes some arguments going on. And I'm assuming his theme this year is the teachers at school." Simon figured. Everyone nodded at that. After a few moments of silence, Ms. Miller stood.

"Well, I'm off to get Christmas Breakfast started! Eleanor, Theodore, and Dave would you care to join me?" All three nodded at that, heading to the kitchen to get breakfast started. The rest of the group sat in a circle and played apples to apples.

The rest of the day passed by slowly, each person caught up in the Christmas spirit before the day would end once again. Finally, later that night, the Seville's bid goodbye and headed back home, their gifts in the trunk. The next few days passed by slowly, Alvin not really sure of the date, but knowing New Years Eve was almost here.

When the day finally came, the Miller's came over to the Seville's house. Theodore had spent all day making food for the event, the other boys cleaning and decorating the house for the party later that day. The Miller's arrived at their house at six, just in time for a light dinner. They spent the night, playing games, eating snacks, and blasting music.

The hours passed quickly and soon it was almost midnight. Dave and Ms. Miller were standing away from the kids, laughing and talking about their time at school. The two younger couples had taken to the backyard, sitting down and cuddling. Alvin and Brittany were inside, playing a few card games which, with both of them being competitive, were pretty hardcore.

They were in the middle of a game of war when Dave and Ms. Miller called them to the backyard as the countdown began. They chuckled as the other members of their group excitedly yelled out each number, themselves just muttering the numbers. When New Years finally hit, they all yelled, 'HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

As the town fireworks exploded into the sky, shimmering with different arrangements and colors. Alvin smiled as he saw the two young couples shyly kiss. He heard a sigh next to him. Glancing over, he saw Brittany staring at the two couples, a look of longing on her face.

An idea shot into his head, and before he shot it down, he acted upon it. Turning to face her, he leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek. She froze, eyes wide before turning to look at him. Dropping his usual persona, he smiled lightly at her, taking her hand.

"Happy New Year, Britt." He whispered sincerely. Her still shocked eyes followed him as he turned and made his way into the house. Unknown to him, Brittany smiled faintly, reaching up and touching where he kissed her. Love shining in her eyes, she whispered, 'Happy New Year, Alvin.' Shaking her head, she made her way inside as well, determined to finish this game of war with him.

School restarted a few days later. Britt quickly made it known in her paper that the Mysterious Painter was a guy and that his art show theme this year was the staff of the school. When asked how she knew, she only brought up that she got a note from him this past Christmas break revealing those things.

Those facts soon became common knowledge and everyone was speculating on which teachers would be featured in the Mysterious Painter's section of the art show this year. Everyone figured Mr. Danvers would be in it, and more than likely the principal. A lot of the guesses ranged throughout all four school buildings, with the most loved teachers in each.

Whenever the teachers heard they were in the poll, they grew embarrassed and quickly changed the subject, or they glowed with pride and said thank you. As the months moved along, Alvin grew busy with classes, homework, and his paintings so he was quite surprised when he walked into school one day and saw all the decorations- apparently it was February Fourteenth, Valentine's Day.

He walked past couple after couple, half of them seeming like they had only been created today- people being a lot of lovey dovey today than usual. Alvin honestly had no clue there were so many couples in school. He was shocked at some of the people he saw cuddling- he didn't even know some of them were dating at all.

Alvin himself had never really taken an interest in dating. Sure, a lot of girls were interested, but he just never thought about dating. He was too focused on life, on his paintings. And he never regretted that choice.

But as he stood there, he felt a pang of sadness, wanting what they had. Sure, pretty much the majority of these couples will probably not last longer than a few months(Hey, despite his creative attitude, he's a realist), but would be nice to have someone like that.

He only just realized that he liked Brittany, and for quite some time he figured. Dating her right now didn't seem right; he wanted to figure out his emotions- he cared a lot about Brittany. She was his best friend, so he wouldn't let hasty actions ruin their friendship.

Shaking his head, he made his way to his first class; the bell would ring in a few minutes anyway. The day went by slowly, Alvin quickly growing nauseous as classes came and went. Ok, he knew it was Valentine's day, the decorations in every classroom and hallway made that very clear, but all the couples were ruining his day.

And the teachers just let it happen! No matter how many notes were passed, whispers sounded, and kisses happened, they stuck to the lesson. Then again, they have been dealing with High School romance for years, so they were probably immune to it all by now. Alvin wished he was too…

No wonder Valentine's Day is also called Single Awareness Day; you can instantly pick the single people out in the room, Alvin thought to himself. He didn't care before that he had no girlfriend, but today made him wish he did. Alvin was getting annoyed because the girls that were in a relationship were sending him shocked looks, and the girls that were single were giving him googly eyes and interested looks.

So, it was understandable that, by the time lunch came by, he was not able to eat. Especially when he looked at the food and saw that most of it was cut or had something to do with Valentine's Day. Buying a granola bar from the vending machine, as well as some chips ahoy cookies and a ginger ale, he sat down at his usual table.

Even Jeanette, Simon, Eleanor, and Theodore were being all cutesy; not as bad as everyone else, but still enough to make his stomach turn. He turned to Brittany as she sat down with food similar to his, sending her sympathetic looks at the queasy expression on her face. Seeing his own meal and expression, she returned the look.

"I hate Valentine's Day…" She grumbled. Alvin raised an eyebrow at that.

"Really? I always thought this would've been your favorite holiday." He stated. She looked up from where her head was resting on the table and glared at him.

"Sure, it's a good holiday, but when you're single, it's terrible…" She muttered. He shrugged.

"Well then, why don't you date? There hasn't been a decline in the number of dates you've been asked out on this year, so why not say yes to one of them? Why do you keep denying?" Alvin wondered, ignoring the tightening feeling in his gut. Though he hated asking about the guys who wanted to date her, he was determined for her to answer his question. She shrugged and took a sip of her coke, once again choosing not to answer.

Alvin opened his mouth, about to say something else, when he paused as two girls(obviously single as they weren't attached to the hip with a boy) walking by their table, stared at him with googly eyes and giggled before carrying on through the Lunch room.

Alvin groaned, resting his head in his hands as he ignored Brittany's raised eyebrow, not noticing the flash of jealous that shone in her eyes. When he focused back to her, the flash was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place.

"Do you happen to have anything hard? Like a bat, a text book, a crowbar? If so, I would ask you to please repeatedly hit me upside the head with it until I am knocked out. Then I can spend the rest of the day in the nurse's office. And, if I'm lucky, maybe I'll be injured enough that, when I wake up, I won't remember any part of this day." Alvin asked. Brittany rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"As tempting as hitting you upside the head with a bat is, I'm going to have to decline. Sorry." She answered, not actually sorry at all.

"Why not?" Alvin whined, muffled as he head was once again buried in his hands.

"Because if I have to go through the torture of this day because I'm single, then you have to too. I am not going to be the only one in our group suffering." She explained. Alvin grumbled.

"You're the worst, Britt." He fired out, looking up at her. She just shrugged, taking a bite of a cookie.

"I know." Pushing off the dramatics, having tired of them, Alvin went back to his 'lunch'. It was silent for a while before Brittany spoke up again.

"Have you ever thought of dating anyone? Found anyone who interests you?" Her voice was soft as she spoke, curiosity painting her words. Alvin paused at that, thinking it over.

"To be honest, I've never really thought much of dating. It just never came to mind- I was always too busy." Brittany raised her eyebrows at that, as if to ask, 'busy? With what exactly?' "But, yeah, I guess I have been thinking about it lately." He confessed, flipping the pop-top to his soda back and forth as he spoke.

"…Anyone in particular?" She innocently wondered, thought something was lying underneath those words. Alvin went silent at that, having grown uncomfortable at the idea of talking about him liking Brittany, with Brittany.

"Yes, there is someone I have been thinking about." Alvin stated after a few moments of silence.

"Do I know them?" Brittany wondered, spinning the lid of her soda open and close. Alvin bit his lip at that question- sure, he wanted her to know sooner or later about how he felt about her, but he did not want her to find out, or figure it out in the middle of a crowded lunch room while they were both in a bad mood. So, he shrugged.

"I'd rather not talk about who it is. What about you? Anyone in particular you've thought of dating?" Alvin wondered and felt pleasure as she tensed; now it was her turn to be uncomfortable.

"Yes…There is someone in particular that I like." Alvin ignored the pang that went through his heart at those words.

"Do I know them?" He countered with her same question. She smiled up at him, seeing what he was getting at.

"I'd rather not talk about who it is." She repeated, grinning.

"Why haven't you tried dating him?" Alvin wondered. She smiled.

"He's not really interested in dating. That's why I haven't dated anyone- I'm waiting for him to ask me." She stared intently at him, as if she had just given him a big hint. Alvin furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding what she was getting out. Seeing he hadn't gotten the hint, she changed the subject.

"What about you? Why haven't you went after your girl?" She wondered. Alvin shrugged.

"To be honest, I've never really been interested in dating." A little bell rang in the back of his mind, but he brushed it off and continued to speak, "And I only realized I liked her a few months ago."

"Only like her? Nothing more than that?" She wondered. Alvin shrugged.

"I don't know; I think that's why I haven't asked her out yet- I want to figure out my feelings for her before I try to date her. I really care about her, she's a close friend and I would hate to ruin that with a random relationship." He admitted. For some reason, he was not as tense as he probably should be. Here he was, sitting with the girl he liked, and talking about her to her face. But it seemed natural to him.

"Wow; Alvin Seville being careful and thoughtful for once. You must really care about this girl." She teased. He ignored the jab and smiled lightly.

"I do." He stated. Their conversation stopped at that, as the rest of the group at the table realized they were there, broke apart, and started to speak about their classes that day, and upcoming projects. The day continued on slowly from there.

Alvin was tortured through each class as the same giggling and looks continued, but he just thought back on his conversation with Brittany and smiled, having finally been told why she said no to all those guys- she was waiting for a specific one to ask her. He felt jealousy at the thought of Brittany liking someone else, but he also felt happiness-she deserved to be with the person she loved, even if that person wasn't him.

Finally the day was coming to an end and then Alvin could go home; all that was left was his art class. As he set up his easel and art board, opening up his art supplies, he paused. Brittany had been in such a bad mood this morning, at seeing all the sad couples. Grinning at his idea, he got to work with his pencils.

He spent the entire class time focused on his idea, not caring if he was not carrying through on his usual persona- he was too focused to care. It was a good thing everyone was ignoring him as, if they had grown curious at his actions, they could have come all the way to his easel, stared at it, and he wouldn't have had any idea that they were there until they spoke.

Finally, about ten minutes before class was over, he was finished with the painting. It was on a sheet of paper, rather than an art board this time- a piece from his sketchbook that he had clipped to the art board on the easel. The picture was in black and white and depicted one thing: A rose.

Alvin had always loved drawing roses; they constantly covered pages throughout all his sketchbooks. But he had never used them in a painting before really; maybe small ones among the grass or something like that, but they were never even close to being the center of a picture. He had spent the whole class, making sure the picture was as life like as he could make it; he wanted it to be perfect.

Mind whirling, he did something he had yet to do in this class(or any class really…): He raised his hand. As if sensing something rare happening, everyone turned to look at him, eyes widening at what he was doing. Even Mr. Danvers was shocked; Alvin had strictly chosen not to participate in class as to keep his secret safe: This must be important for him to break that.

"Yes, Alvin?" He questioned.

"Mr. Danvers, could I be excused early today I have to get something to someone before they leave school and they are always one of the first to leave. Can I?" Alvin questioned, staying as close to the truth as he could without giving too much away. Sensing the truth in his words, Mr. Danvers nodded his consent.

"Yes you can, Alvin." With that, Alvin unclipped the paper from the art board, hiding it quickly behind the cover of his sketchbook(ignoring everyone's curious eyes at the fact that he had a sketchbook and had actually drawn something today).

Packing his art supplies box in his backpack, he quickly returned the art board to the classroom closet, before pulling his backpack over his shoulder and waving goodbye to Mr. Danvers on the way out as shocked gazes still stared at him.

Walking quickly through the hallways, he reached Brittany's locker and was relieved to see that the hallway was empty. Pulling out the drawing from today's class, and opening his art supplies box. As he stood there, he pondered over how to sigh the paper. He grinned as he went with his usual signature, in the lower right-hand corner of the paper.

Flipping it over so that the drawing faced the locker(blank side facing the hallway), he pulled some tape out of his art supply box and taped it to her locker. He signed Brittany's name on the back in the same style as his signature. Thinking quickly, he wrote a note on the back that said:

I saw you were pretty upset today; I hope this can cheer you up…

Looking up and down the hallway, he grinned. For the first time today he was glad it was Valentine's Day as no one would notice this and touch it; most of the other lockers had papers taped to them from friends and sweethearts. Brittany would be the first person to see it.

With that, he put away his art supplies, zipped up his backpack, and headed for his locker, reaching it just as the end of the school day bell rang. He was definitely happy that he was going home in a better mood than he had been in all day; he just hoped Brittany would be in a better mood as well because of his drawing.

The days passed by, and soon it was the art show yet again. Ranges of emotions filled people as they saw the Mysterious Painter's paintings. Brittany was excited that she knew the theme so soon. Others were excited about the guesses on staff being right, others sad they were wrong.

But, overall Alvin was proud of his work and loved watching people enjoy his art that he had worked so hard on. Looking at Brittany, he smiled lightly. He had figured out his feelings for her and could say for certain that he was in love with her. As for her loving him, he had no clue though, but who ever did in a relationship?

He blushed slightly as he remembered lunch the day after he had given her that paper. It had started off normally; everyone laughing and talking about things that happened since yesterday's lunch. That was how they had gotten onto the topic of the drawing he had left her.

"Hey Brittany? What was that paper taped to your locker yesterday after school?" Jeanette wondered. Simon and Theodore, not having known about that, grew curious. Brittany blushed.

"Ummm…It was a drawing from the Mysterious Painter." She confessed. The group paused and smiled at her, excluding Alvin.

"Well, I guess you're not the only one with a crush- it seems your crush on him is returned." Simon stated, grinning. Alvin feigned interest in the tables around the lunch room at that, trying to hide his blush.

Because of that, he didn't notice everyone at the table glancing over at him with a look in their eyes, as if looking for his reaction. Brittany's eyes widened and she shook her head vividly, not wanting Alvin to find out about her crush on him- it was bad enough everyone else knew about it. Even Ms. Miller and Dave did! But, of course, Alvin didn't know…

Shaking his head, Alvin glanced over to them when he noticed how silent everyone was. He grew confused as everyone suddenly looked away from him all at once, starting to eat their food. Why were they all staring at him? He wasn't even a part of the conversation! Well, at least he wasn't a part of it that they would know about. Turning back to Brittany, they continued.

"What was the picture?" Eleanor wondered.

"It was a rose." She explained, blushing deeply at everyone's teasing looks; even Alvin's this time, "He wrote that he saw I was in a bad mood because of all the valentine's stuff and wanted to cheer me up."

"Was it like his paintings?" Theodore questioned.

"No; it was more of a drawing, clearly torn out of a sketchbook." She answered, thinking back on the painting, "It was done in pencil, no color, and was so lifelike. It was absolutely amazing." She sighed, smiling. Alvin ignoring the happiness surging through him and took a bite of his pizza.

"Well that was thoughtful of him." Eleanor stated. Suddenly she sighed, "I just wish we knew who he was; it's been so long. We've tried for years and seem to be no closer to the truth! I mean, there could've been a new Mysterious Painter every year, and the one this year just has a crush on you."

"But, every year's paintings have a style to it that are all incredibly similar. And it just seems cruel of Mr. Danvers to let on Mysterious Painter graduate and tell no one their identity." Jeanette countered.

"But, let's say the Mysterious Painter graduates this year. That would mean that he started his secret identity in fifth grade! He would have to be a child prodigy to be able to do that!" Simon exclaimed, "I mean, in fifth grade, we were, what, ten-eleven? Sure it's a little out of the range for a child prodigy, but his skill then was professional level. And who knows how long he had been painting since then! It just seems too impossible…"

"I just don't know; if he keeps changing them and doesn't tell us, won't we soon grow tired and stop guessing?" Theodore brought up.

"Maybe he wants to release their identities all at once after every ten years or something?" Brittany figured.

"Then they won't be revealed until the year after we graduate…" Eleanor whined, frowning. Alvin snorted, ignoring everyone's glares at that as he took a sip of his milk carton. They hadn't really talked about it, but it was an unspoken agreement between him and Mr. Danvers that they would reveal his identity the year he graduates. So, they were close, but not quite there…

He couldn't imagine it though; after so many years of being the Mysterious Painter it seemed strange to think that, soon, he would not be them anymore. I mean, his paintings and identity has gotten so much fame that, even other schools all around this state and the few states around them started doing the Mysterious Painter section of their art.

But most of them revealed the person's identity as they were really only took on the pseudonym for a year or two before it would move on to someone else. They were the school who started it and had yet to reveal who the Mysterious Painter was- though that was because they planned to wait till Alvin was graduating to let the secret out.

"Well, we've already waited, what, six years? I guess we can wait for three more years if that is true…" Theodore reassured.

"Yeah, I guess so." Jeanette stated. And with that, they went back to what had happened the rest of the day. Shaking his head, Alvin focused back on the art show. They were probably going to stay for a few more minutes before they left. Alvin smirked when he saw Brittany glance over at him and furrow her eyebrows in confusion.

She could not understand for the life of her why Alvin kept coming each year. I mean, he disrespected art so much, mocking it and everything. So she could never figure out why he still came every year; sure it was a tradition for them, but she thought that Alvin would have gotten out of it by now.

But here he was, leaning back against the same column he always did, watching everyone enjoy the Mysterious Painter's section with a genuine smile on her face: she just didn't get it! She hid her blush as he noticed her staring and smiled slight at her, his eyes glinting with happiness.

It was hard for Brittany to pinpoint when she had started to love Alvin Seville. But she had always been closer to him than everyone else. He affected her more than anyone else did; just one comment can make her roar with anger, and one word can make her instantly calm and be content. It always seemed that Alvin knew her inside out; he knew just what to say to get her to where she will yell, or laugh.

But here she was, still trying to figure out the complex puzzle that was Alvin Seville. Half the time he was such a jerk, teasing her and anyone who was near. He didn't seem to care about anything then. But then, the next second, he would become incredibly sincere and kind. He was always there to help whoever needed it.

Often he would tease someone when they asked for something but, he would somehow phrase his teasing in a way that would answer their question and help them before continuing on to his class. It frustrated her all the time that she didn't seem to truly know the real Alvin Seville- who he really was behind all the games and taunts.

She knew he was a good person, but she couldn't understand why he hid behind this rude persona. Maybe it was what everyone expected; when Alvin was younger he was so kind and nice, but he was mischievous and sneaky. So, when he played a prank on people, they would think he was rude. Maybe he got tired of being misunderstood and became what everyone expected of him?

Brittany sighed, or maybe she was just thinking too hard about all of this…Shaking her head, she turned back to the drawing of the Kindergarten teacher Miss. Ginger, so much like her rose, that she smile. Picking up her camera once again, she continued taking pictures for the newspaper.

The next day at school, news quickly spread. All the teachers who were sponsored in the art show had walked into their classrooms to find art board replicas of the drawings of themselves from last night lying on each of their desks.

Even more, all the teachers opened the doors to find sketchbook papers with drawings of them in their rooms. Even the janitors and substitute teachers found some taped to supply closets and in their mailboxes. And taped to each one was a note.

I apologize for not being able to have paintings of all of you in my art show section, but unfortunately if I had tried to do that, I wouldn't have finished by now, let alone before the next school year started. So, though they are not art boards, I hope you like these pictures. I thank all of you for your hard work at teaching us students and running this school. I know we can all be a handful, especially some of us, but I appreciate all that you do and I know many others do too…

The Mysterious Painter

All the students thanked him profusely throughout the day, as even the strictest teachers were nice and accepting today. Less homework was to be completed at the end of the day as in most classes teachers spent most of the time going through tonight's homework all together in class. Fewer detentions were handed out- all in all, it was a great day.

Alvin himself had to constantly hide his embarrassment at every thank you he heard in the conversations he passed, just happy to finally be done with all the paintings and sketches- this was definitely the most demanding of all the art shows to this date.

But it was worth it to see all the happy teachers. To be honest, he classified himself as part of the group who were the most stressful for the teachers. Though he did all his homework and passed all the tests, he knew his attitude affected a lot of his teachers day. He had a lot of respect for teachers; after all, he himself wanted to be a teacher, an art teacher just like Mr. Danvers.

He was hoping to take over the school art section when Mr. Danvers retired. He was already in his fifties and planned to retire at 63. He would be out of school by then and hopefully working as an assistant to Mr. Danvers before he retired. He hadn't asked Mr. Danvers yet, but he planned to soon- he was just worried about what the man would say.

Alvin had noticed that time was passing faster and faster as the years went on because, before he knew it, the days had passed, he had finished all his finals, and the last day of school was over. They didn't have any plans this Summer like they did last year, so Alvin spent him time relaxing.

About a week after school finished, the Seville's drove over to the Miller's house to have lunch together and spend the rest of the day together. Lunch was delicious, as Eleanor and Ms. Miller made amazing sandwiches, fruit punch, and snacks. After watching a few movies they sat in the living room, laughing and talking about anything that came to mind. Alvin honestly had no clue how it ended the way it did with how good the day was going.

"So how are your relationships going you four?" Brittany wondered, grinning slyly. The four blushed at that, not meeting their boyfriend's/girlfriend's eyes.

"I-It's going good." Both Simon and Theodore stuttered, their girlfriends nodding in agreement. Brittany sent a sideways glance to Alvin, which everyone caught, but Alvin who was absorbed in a puzzle at the moment.

"Hey Alvin?" Everyone sat up at the innocence sounding in Brittany's voice. Alvin, continuing to search for a certain puzzle piece, glanced up to meet Brittany's eyes for a second to show he was listening, "Is there…anyone you are thinking of dating?" She wondered. Not really wanting to talk about the fact that he was planning to date Brittany, with Brittany, he shook his head. Brittany sighed, thinking on how to continue now.

"What about that girl you told me about?" Everyone's eyebrows shot up at that, not having known about this conversation, "Did you figure out your feelings for her yet?" She inquired.

"Yeah, I did." Brittany was quickly getting annoyed at the short responses from Alvin, but calmed and continued to speak.

"You know, you never mentioned who it was you were talking about." She brought up. Alvin shrugged, "Is it someone I know?" Alvin didn't answer as he finally found the right puzzle piece he needed for a spot. Brittany gave exasperated looks to everyone listening in, who all gave her encouraging looks. Steeling herself, she turned back to the object of her love, who had not noticed the exchange going on, having found another piece to place.

"Are they in our year?" No answer.

"Are they in any of the same classes as you?" Not even a glance up at her.

"Do they have black hair?" Just a shrug; which definitely did not answer her question.

"Brown hair?" Nothing. "Blond hair?" Nada. "Blue eyes?" Zip. "Brown eyes?" Zilch.

"Alvin?" Had he stopped listening? But, his look up showed he had not; he was just not answering any of her questions. Summoning up all her courage, she tried a different direction.

"The guy I like is in our year." Only a light tensing of his shoulders showed he had heard what she said. She continued to speak, determined to get him to react, "He had brown hair and blue eyes."Nothing yet again, "I have math with him, as well as English." He was still staring down at the puzzle, searching for a certain piece.

Alvin was determined not to look at her. He knew if he started to describe the person he was in love with, she would figure out he was talking about her in a heartbeat. And if she didn't, than everyone else would and would more than likely comment on it. But, now that she was talking about the person she liked, he could not meet her eyes, as she would see the jealousy clouding his eyes and figure him out immediately.

Just the fact that he had math and English with her made his mind whirl. He had those classes with her too, but had never seen her pay attention to any guys specifically; she mostly talked to him in those classes. He ran through his memory, trying to pinpoint a guy that was in both of those classes with them, but he came up blank.

"He has two brothers, just like I have two sisters." Her voice was careful here, as if it gave away a lot. Alvin tried to think of someone who had two brothers like him, but not many did.

Brittany was incredibly frustrated now; everyone else in the room was shocked that Alvin hadn't figured it out yet, Brittany was being pretty obvious. It was silent for a while, everyone staring between Alvin and Brittany, Brittany staring at Alvin who was still absorbed in his puzzle, having found four other pieces to place since the last one. Finally, Brittany stood, practically shrieking in frustration.

"You are absolutely oblivious, Alvin Seville!" She exclaimed before rushing to her room, slamming the door closed. Alvin's eyes were wide in shock, his jealousy forgotten. He definitely did not expect a reaction like that. What did she mean by oblivious? But, the little bell was ringing in the back on his mind once again, connecting dots that he could seem to place.

His eyes had followed her from the moment she stood, spoke, and hurried out of the room, his eyes currently resting on her closed door that was still shaking in its frame. He turned to face everyone else, eyes asking what was going on, but they just sighed, shock their heads, and spoke in low tones about meaningless things.

A few minutes later, the Seville boys headed home, the happy mood from the day lost. Alvin didn't speak to anyone the rest of the day until bed, replaying the scene with Brittany in his mind over and over again. What, exactly, was he oblivious about?

The next day, he spent his time in his painting room, only coming out to grab food to bring back down, having stored water in there before for days like these. At the end of the day, just before the sun was about to go down, he headed out, walking around town to clear his mind.

He didn't know why Brittany was so mad at him. Should he go to her house and apologize? No, he figured she wouldn't accept an apology if he didn't know what he was apologizing for. He sighed as he arrived at the corner of his street. Looking around, he froze as he saw a familiar figure sitting on the plastic steps of the park's playground, their back to him. Brittany.

Summoning his courage, he made his way over to her. They were the only two out there tonight, most inside, getting ready for dinner. His footsteps sounded against the wood pieces surrounding the playground, causing Brittany to snap her head around. Her eyes turned cold when she saw him.

"What do you want, Alvin?" Her voice was tired, as if she didn't want to deal with this right now. He almost hesitated, but he knew they needed to resolve this, so he continued, sitting down on the steps next to her.

"I want…to understand. I know I was being oblivious, but I don't know how." Alvin confessed. Brittany let out a short, fake laugh, sniffling. Alvin hadn't noticed, but she was crying, had been for a while it seemed.

"Alvin," She turned to face him, "I said the person I liked had brown hair." She reached up running a hand through his brown hair, "Blue eyes." She emphasized, staring him directly in his blue eyes, "Was in both my Math class and English class. And he had two brothers, just like I have two sisters." At her pointed look, Alvin finally clasped his mind around the little bell ringing, stopping it. Oh, she was talking about me…Alvin realized. Now knowing that she liked him, he smiled, which seemed to shock her.

"You know, the girl I like has light brown hair that she always wears in a ponytail." Alvin reached over, twirling his fingers in her hair, held up with a ponytail, "She had icy blue eyes, and shares the same Math and English class that I have. She has two sisters, like I have two brothers. In fact, both our siblings are dating each other." Brittany took a shaky breath in here.

"You like me?" she whispered. Alvin nodded, moving his hand from her hair so it held her face, wiping away the few tears that still lingered on her cheek. His other hand wiped away the rest of the tears.

"I have for a while, Britt." Alvin confessed, staring deeply into her eyes to show his sincerity.

"So it was me you were talking about on Valentine's Day." She realized. Alvin grinned and nodded, "So that's why you didn't answer me yesterday when I asked all those questions."

"I was afraid that you would figure it out, even if my answers were vague. Or, at the very least, the others would figure it out and blurt the truth out, letting you know." Alvin explained.

"Well, I was talking about you also on Valentine's day also, when I said I was waiting for a certain," She stared pointedly at Alvin when she emphasized that word, "person to ask me out." Alvin blushed.

"Sorry about that. I only realized that I liked you, and had for a while, at Christmas. I wanted to figure out just how I felt about you before we started dating or anything." Alvin apologized. Brittany nodded, smiling in understanding.

"And have you figured that out yet?" She 'innocently' wondered.

"Yes, I have."

"Good, because I'd hate to go through this whole thing again, as you wait to figure it out." Brittany joked. Alvin rolled his eyes but pulled Brittany to him, hugging her tightly, something that she instantly returned.

The two started dating then, spending the Summer together. They went on dates to the arcade, spent time at the oldest ice cream parlor in town, went to the movies, and just stayed together whenever and wherever they could.

When they told their family, they had all sighed in relief, exclaiming 'finally!', stating how they had known about them liking each other for years. Soon the Summer ended and they went back to school, both Alvin and Brittany chalking that up as the best Summer they had ever had.

School started same as always; people had learned by now to ignore Alvin in art class, resigning themselves to the fact that he was going to continue being in that class, and Mr. Danvers would allow him to. Even Mr. Truman gave up, his pleas to Mr. Danvers going nowhere. So, when he substituted he stayed at his desk, only giving Alvin a few confused and wondering glances.

That left Alvin to his painting, no longer worried someone would talk to him. It was a tad lonely though. Sometimes he would look over, see someone's painting and want to ask them questions on how they came up with it, or what they were going for.

A few times he saw a few people puzzled and frustrated, trying to get a certain look in their painting that they could get quicker and easier with different methods. But, he had made his bed and now he would have to lie in it. So, he focused on his own work, already starting his paintings for this year's art show.

His plan this year was Winter; and the first painting was a close up on a single snowflake, enlargened across the whole art board. It was one of his personal favorites so far… He was blending white, grey, light blue, and a bit of yellow to make it seem like the snowflake was shinning. So invested in his painting, he didn't notice some walked into the room until they spoke.

"Hello Mr. Danvers." Alvin froze, knowing that voice: it was his girlfriend. Sitting up straight, he tore his eyes from his painting. Looking up, he saw Brittany standing next to the door.

"Ahh, hello Brittany. What brings you here? Shouldn't you be in class?" He wondered, shooting Alvin a look before focusing back on Brittany.

"Well, I'm currently in Journalism right now, and they sent all of us around school to get interviews. I was wondering if I could get an interview from you?" She wondered.

"Really?" Mr. Danvers questioned, curious, "About what exactly?" Brittany chuckled here.

"The same thing I always bother you about." She stated. He sighed, sitting back in his chair.

"Well, I respect your determination, Brittany; but I don't feel comfortable divulging the Mysterious Painters secret's without their permission." He apologized.

"Well, why don't you call them so we can ask?" She wondered, but Mr. Danvers just chuckled.

"Sorry Brittany, but I don't like talking to them about their secret identity where people can hear; either the people near me or the people near him. Plus, most teachers don't like when student's phones ring in class." He denied.

"So it's still a 'him'!" She pointed out. He smiled and nodded, amused.

"Yes, it's still a him." He confirmed, "I wish I could tell you Brittany, but I can't." She sighed here, defeated.

"Ok Mr. Danvers; I understand. Thank you for being so nice about it." And with that she turned to leave the room. But before she could, she stopped and turned, smiling at Alvin. Uh oh…He thought, glancing at his painting- it would definitely not be what she expected to see him working on.

"Hey Alvin, what are you painting? You seemed pretty focused on it when I walked in here." She remembered. Alvin shakily chuckled, thinking fast on how he could stop her from seeing his painting.

"Oh, you know, just my usual stuff." Alvin stated.

"Stick figures and lines, right? Are you ever going to give art a chance?" She wondered, "It is quite amazing; I've only ever tried to learn a few things, but it's very interesting to learn about."

"For you, maybe. But not really for me." Alvin stated as calmly as he could, shrugging. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"Oh Alvin; you're so stubborn…" She said. Alvin was calmer now, as she had stopped her trail to his easel.

"Hey Brittany!" Mr. Danvers stated, turning her attention back to him, "Is anyone doing a story on Mrs. Adelia's coming field trip for the French club? If not, you could go interview her- I believe this is her free period. She should be in her classroom, getting ready for the clubs meeting after school."

"Actually, I don't think anyone is. Thanks Mr. Danvers!" She exclaimed. Alvin froze for a second when she speedily made her way over to him, but all she did was kiss Alvin's cheek, before leaving the room to get her interview. Alvin quietly sighed in relief; that was too close.

As the months grew on, Alvin busied himself with his paintings for the art show. But, something started to nag him as time went on. It was October now, and he and Brittany had been dating for five months now(since the very end of May). Guilt was starting to eat at him; here she was, completely honest with him about everything in her life, yet he was keeping half of himself a secret from her.

He spent most of his day jumping from decision to decision. Should he tell Brittany he was the Mysterious Painter? Or should he continue keeping it from her and let her find out when everyone else did? The second option was rude and cruel of him- but he was nervous about the first one; on how she would react.

He had been keeping this secret from her for about eight years now, so she would be mad, especially considering how he teased her for liking art and the Mysterious Painter. But, to keep it secret for even longer, throughout their relationship and let her find out at the same time as everyone else- no, that wasn't fair to her…

But, he worried she would break up with him if he told her now, told her that he had been tricking her for so long. But, she did deserve to know the truth. And, to be honest, the secret was killing him- keeping it from everyone; he wasn't even allowed to talk about it with the people that did know. If he told Brittany, than he could finally have someone to talk to about it.

He had decided then: he would tell Brittany his secret. But how exactly would he? She may not believe him if he just came out and told her- she'd probably think he was just teasing her again about her love of the Mysterious Painter. So, how would he tell her the truth in such a way that would make denying it possible? And that was when the perfect idea hit him.

It was the weekend now, mid October, and Alvin was walking down to Brittany's house. He smiled when she opened the door.

"Alvin!" She exclaimed, beaming, "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house today? I have something I want to show you." He explained. A curious look filled her expression.

"What is it?" She wondered. He shyly grinned.

"You'll see when we get there." He vaguely stated.

"Ok…" And with that, she stepped out onto the porch, after yelling to Ms. Miller that she was going to Alvin's. They chatted as they made their way to Alvin's house, Alvin desperately trying to stop the butterflies that flew wildly in his stomach. Finally, they arrived to see Dave in the kitchen, cleaning, and Simon and Theodore immersed in a video game that was blasting through the room.

"Hey Brittany!" All they chorused. Brittany grinned, amused.

"Hey guys." Rolling his eyes at his distracted brothers, though grateful for it right now, he grasped Brittany's hand in his own and hurried through the room, ignoring Dave's knowing and excited gaze. Alvin pulled open the door to the basement and stepped in, turning on the light above the stairs and pulling the door closed behind him.

"Alvin..? Why are we going to the basement?" She wondered, unsure. Alvin chuckled.

"Don't worry, it's not as scary as it seems. There are two rooms down here; Dave renovated them for me and Simon when we were just starting school." Alvin explained, starting down the stairs.

"So this is where Simon's science lab and your secret room are?" She excitedly questioned. Alvin stopped at that, throwing her a surprised look, raising an eyebrow. She just shrugged.

"Simon and Theodore often talk about your secret room that you have never let anyone, other than Dave, in. They often speculate what your room is. I mean, Simon's is a lab that Jeanette has seen thousands of times, and Theo's is the kitchen. So what's yours?" She gasped here in realization, "Is that what you're going to show me?"

"Yup!" Alvin stated, smiling slightly at her reaction. She was practically jumping with joy now, mind swirling with what his room could be.

"Then what are we waiting for!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs, no longer scared of the basement anymore. She pulled to a stop in front of the door marked with Alvin's name. She was suddenly unsure now, hesitating as she looked back at Alvin. Alvin sighed, wondering what he should say.

"Brittany? Before we go in there, I want to say that what is in here is definitely not what you or anyone would expect. I mean, Simon's convinced it has something to do with skateboarding, and Theo has no clue. You see…" He grew nervous here, not sure how to continue.

"You see, I have been keeping a secret from you guys. And not just for a few months, but since first grade." She frowned at that, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"The secret wasn't fully finished until third grade, but I have been keeping a big secret from you, and hiding it in any way I could- even if it meant I had to lie and act like a jerk." He sighed here at Brittany's confused, upset, and hurt expression.

"Brittany; there are a lot of questions that you have had for years that will be answered when I open this door. And, when I do open it, I am sure you will have a ton more questions to ask me and will be pretty upset and mad, more than you are right now." Alvin admitted.

"All I ask it that you allow me to explain; to tell you why I have kept this secret for so long and in such a way." She hesitated, thinking, but soon nodded. With that, Alvin grasped the doorknob and turned it, opening it up a crack, waiting for Brittany's to start moving.

She finally shook out of her daze that his words had caused and took a step towards the door. Looking around the empty entry way, he pushed the door open all the way as Brittany stepped in, eyes wide. He followed her in, closing the door quickly behind him.

 **There's the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it; I will put the rest of the story up tomorrow, I promise! Sorry about the cliffhanger; this was about halfway through the story and seemed a good place to stop the story in the middle. Good luck in life until tomorrow...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Here is the final part of the story...I hope you enjoy the last part of the story; It was so much fun to write, causing me to spend hours writing this story, writing as fast as I could, barely able to write down all the words as their flew through my mind.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Alvin and the Chipmunks!**

Brittany's eyes flitted back and forth from wall to wall, taking in the familiar paintings that she had seen over the year, just in a completely different way. Two of them were ones that she had herself, hanging proudly up in her room. She slowly stepped into the room, the newspapers covered in bits of paint crinkling under her feet.

She blinked repeatedly at what she was seeing as if she could not believe it. Taking a deep breath she turned to face Alvin who was nervously standing by the door, eyes on her.

"Explain." She stated as calmly as she could. Alvin slowly nodded, walking over and placing one of the chairs in the room behind her and, as she sat down, he grabbed one himself and sat down across from her.

"Well, as you can see I'm-" He stopped here, unable to say the words.

"The Mysterious Painter." She whispered in disbelief. Alvin slowly nodded, "B-but how, you always said…" She trailed off here.

"That I hate art? That was part of the lie; to keep everything a secret." Alvin stated. Brittany stared at him for a minute, face blank.

"Start at the beginning. Tell me everything." She demanded. So with that, Alvin started his story; how he would always spend time at the late Ms. Danvers house, eat cookies and watching movies. How he found her husband's art room, spending hours in there, reading through all his notebooks and studying all his drawings.

How, soon, he started creating his eyes drawings after Dave bought him a sketchbook. How Ms. Danvers told her son and, soon, he was also learning about art from Mr. Danvers. How he would spend his Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at the High school with Mr. Danvers, and Saturdays at Ms. Danvers. How, in third grade, he gave his first ever individually done art board to Mr. Danvers and he asked him to join the Art Show.

"I was so excited he had asked me to; that I, a little third grader, could be part of the big art show. But I was worried about what everyone would think." At her confused look, he continued, "I was the prankster, the person everyone saw as a troublemaker. And I was, I mean, I only started spending time with Mama Danvers because I was running away after pranking someone and, seeing her on the porch, asked if I could hide with her."

"Most people thought that I could care less about school; that I was slow and stupid. After a while, I kind of grew to believe them. So the thought of telling people that I had a 'gift' at painting. That, according to Mr. and Mama Danvers, I was a child art prodigy," Brittany was stunned at that; that Alvin was a child prodigy, "I worried that they would find a way to tease me about that, as if it was something bad."

"But, why not tell your brothers? And me and the girls? We wouldn't have teased you." She stated sincerely.

"I knew you wouldn't, but I was unsure in my art. I didn't tell anyone about. I mean, Mr. Danvers found out from Mama Danvers and they told Dave. I've never told someone, myself, that I could paint. So, when Mr. Danvers stated that he had an idea for me to still paint in the art show, yet keep my secret, I jumped on board." Alvin stated.

"I wasn't trying to purposefully hurt anyone's feelings through this secret; I just wanted to keep it to myself."Alvin promised, staring into Brittany's eyes to show he meant it. She smiled and nodded.

"I know you weren't, I understand why you kept it all a secret. But why make fun of art the way you always have? What did that accomplish?" She wondered.

"At first, it was just part of the fun. I started it to mess with everyone. But soon, it just became a part of being The Mysterious Painter, a way to keep my secret safe. Who would suspect someone who hated art as much as I did to be the Mysterious Painter?" He explained. She chuckled slightly at that.

"Yeah, that's true. We never thought the Mysterious Painter to be anyone like you; it seemed too farfetched." She stated, amused, "How wrong we were…"

Alvin continued from there, how he and Mr. Danvers diligently kept the secret, only letting a few details out(most of them to her, Brittany proudly pointed out). That, of course, led to the paintings that he had given her.

"You found out my favorites from me." Brittany realized. Alvin grinned.

"Yeah. Mr. Danvers had told me the day before that you had asked for some. So at lunch the next day, I goaded you enough to find out which were your favorites. Then I painted them, wrapped them up, and dropped them on your front porch." He explained.

"And you had such a straight face at Christmas when I was opening them too!" She exclaimed which Alvin laughed at.

"Oh trust me; I may have had a straight face, but I was a complete bundle of nerves. That's how I found out I had feelings for you. When Dave commented on your crush, he was actually talking to me. That, of course, made me pause and realize that I did have feelings for you." He confessed.

"Well then, it's a good thing for Dave I guess." She joked, "And the rose drawing?"

"Well, you had just told me at lunch that you were upset about the day, so when I was in art class, I drew it for you, left class early, and taped it to your locker." Brittany sat up at that, her thoughts changing.

"About art class. That's the reason Mr. Danvers never kicked you out and kept giving you good grades! Because you actually were participating, just not in the way everyone expected. But what about all the stick figures people saw you drawing?" She wondered. Alvin shrugged, grinning.

"It was a cover; I drew those for the first few weeks and then, after a while when no one seemed to care about me anymore and just ignored me, I started painting my actual art show paintings." Alvin explained.

"Were there any close calls?" She wondered and Alvin nodded at that, explaining about the time with Mr. Truman and, more recently, with Brittany.

"So that's why you looked so nervous! I was so confused, but ignored it, thinking I was seeing things." She chuckled, shaking her head, "And why Mr. Danvers was so quick to give me a new story idea and get rid of me!"

"Yeah, we just didn't want you to see my painting." Alvin explained.

"What were you painting?" She wondered. Alvin stopped at that, slowly grinning.

"My first painting to the art show this year. Hmmm…I guess I could show you it early…" He grinned at Brittany's excited expression. Standing up, he walked over to the corner of the room and picked up the finish painting, holding it towards his chest. Sitting back in his chair, he handed the snowflake painting to Brittany. She gasped, taking it gingerly as if it could easily break.

"It's amazing, Alvin…"

"It's my favorite one I've ever made." He softly stated, smiling lightly. She handed it back to him after a few minutes of examining it. Brittany then sat back in her chair, looking around the room.

"So you really painted all of these paintings…" She seemed to realize. Alvin nodded, glowing with pride: the only people who complimented him for his paintings were Mr. Danvers, Mama Danvers, and Dave. Everyone else thanked The Mysterious Painter- never Alvin Seville. She looked up at him, suddenly unsure, "Do you think you could paint one for me?" He furrowed his eyebrows at that, confused on what she meant.

"What do you mean?" He inquired. Blushing slightly, she explained.

"Well, I want to see you painting one. Do you think I could watch you paint one?" Alvin was stunned; he definitely didn't expect her to ask that, ever really. He was shy about her watching him paint, but seeing her pleading look, he smiled and nodded.

"Sure. I was planning on working on the next painting for the art show today, so if you want you can stay and watch. Though, I can't guarantee it will be fun." He warned. She shrugged, grinning.

"I think I'll manage." She assured. With that, Alvin stood and placed the snowflake painting back in the corner of the room before moving his seat to face his covered easel where his next painting sat. Pulling out his art supplies as Brittany pulled her chair up to his side, he slipped off the cover.

He smiled at Brittany's gasp of awe, even though he was only starting to paint the painting, most of it just outlined. It was a picture of a frozen pond, beneath a beautiful tree, whose branches were covered in frost and snow, surrounded by snow piled on the ground.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed and started painting, his girlfriend watching him as he did, time passing quicker as Alvin continued his painting.

Christmas came fast, and with it, finals were finished, school was done, and the group of friends spent every day together, sometimes as individual couples and other times as a whole group. The Christmas spirit was felt by everyone as each day slowly passed by.

Trees were decorated, treats were made, music played, and presents were bought. Finally, the day was here and the Seville boys all loaded up their presents and headed once again over to the Miller's house. Once they arrived, they place all the presents under the tree, except for one, which Alvin quickly hid behind the coach to be opened in private later.

They went in a line, each opening one present, exclaiming what they got and thanking the person who got it for them. Finally, the present opening ended, Alvin grinning secretively, when Brittany frowned in confusion at him when she opened no presents from him. Soon they broke apart, Ms. Miller, Theodore, Eleanor, and Dave going to cook Christmas Breakfast. Jeanette and Simon challenged each other to a game of chess, but when Brittany made to follow after them, Alvin stopped her.

"Hey Brittany." She turned to look at him, curious.

"Yeah?" She wondered. He pulled out his present to her from behind the couch and grinned.

"You still have one more present to open." He pointed out. She was confused on why she didn't just open it with all her other ones, but relented and followed Alvin to her bedroom. Sitting on the floor, he handed the present to her. Curious, she ripped off the wrapping paper and gasped.

"When did you have time to paint this?" She wondered. It was a fair question; since having told Brittany his secret back in October, she had taken to visiting him in his paint room often, which stunned the other four members of their group the first time they saw her going in there, when they were all hanging out in Simon's lab with the door open. Brittany smiled, picturing their reactions.

She had been spending the day in her room, finishing up an article for Journalism that was due Monday on the winter sports teams and, after finishing, had raced over to Alvin's, who she knew was spending the day in his painting room, trying to finish the pond painting.

"Hey Dave!" She exclaimed when he opened the door. He smiled, having found out from Alvin about her knowing the secret, Alvin confirming his guess two days ago.

"Hey Brittany. He's down in his room. But be careful, Jeanette, Simon, Eleanor, and Theodore are all down in Simon's lab." He stated, mischief gleaming in his eyes. She grinned and nodded.

"Ok, thanks Dave." And with that she headed down to the basement, pulling open the door and starting down the stairs, the light from the windows bright enough to make the stairs visible. She grinned widely as she heard laughter coming from Simon's lab. Stepping to the ground, she saw his lab room door was wide open. Eleanor, giggling at something Theodore had said, spotted her first.

"Brittany!" She exclaimed. Everyone turned to face her and stood.

"You finished your article?" Simon assumed. Brittany nodded.

"Yeah; took longer than I expect, but I finished. Why teachers think it's a good idea to have things due on a Monday, I'll never know…" She muttered, making them all laugh.

"You coming to join us? Theo and Eleanor made sandwiches." Jeanette stated, point to the lab table behind him where a plate of delicious looking sandwiches sat. Brittany shook her head.

"Sorry guys, I already promised Alvin I would spend the day with him." She stated. Simon snorted, pushing his glasses further up onto his nose.

"Good luck on getting him out of his room; he's been stuck in there for hours." He offered. She shrugged, smiling.

"It's ok, I don't need to." And with that, she turned to face Alvin's room, walking forward and twisting the doorknob. Opening the door slightly so they others wouldn't see inside, she turned to face them, "But thanks anyway Simon." The picture was priceless.

Eyes wide, mouths dropped open at the fact that she had opened Alvin's room door, something none of them had ever had the guts to do. Brittany desperately wished she had a camera so she could take a picture of them. But shaking her head, she turned back to the door, pushing it slightly open more so she could slip in. Alvin was facing her, having heard her speak to Simon through the crack in the door and, seeing the mischievous glint in her eyes, grinned before calmly speaking.

"Oh, hey Britt! You finally finished your paper?" He wondered.

"Yup; it's all done now." And with that, she closed the door behind her, taking one last look at the still stunned faces of the other four, which had grown even more shocked at Alvin's calm words, realizing that Alvin had actually shown Brittany his room and allowed her into it whenever she wanted to visit.

Needless to say, Brittany spent the next few minutes recanting all that had happened and described each of their faces, which they laughed about for a while as well.

After that, the four had tried to sneak a peek in the room every time she went in, or asked her when alone what the room was, but she wouldn't budge. Alvin didn't understand it, but she had taken to constantly watching him paint whenever she could, leaving him barely any time to paint this painting for her and keep it a surprise.

The painting was a blended kind of painting, depicting the first day they started dating- in that children's park down the street- in the corner was the day of the date(May 28). Alvin had spent much of his art classes and time at night, or when Brittany was busy with something, working on this painting and had finally finished it a week ago.

"Mostly in art class or when you were busy." He stated simply, "Do you like it?" He wondered.

"Of course I do Alvin, it's beautiful…" She whispered, wiping away some tears before leaning forward to kiss Alvin, "Thank you."

After a few more moments in silence, Brittany reluctantly stored the painting under her bed, for fear of one of the girls or Ms. Miller finding it and discovering Alvin's secret. They then headed back out to watch Simon and Jeanette play chess as they waited for Christmas breakfast to be ready.

After a long day, the boys headed home to go to bed. And before she went to sleep, Brittany pulled out her present from Alvin, staring at it for a while before going to sleep with a smile on her face.

The rest of the holiday's passed quickly, the group once again spending New Years Eve at the Seville's house. Brittany and Alvin had their sort of second New Years kiss, spending the hours together, playing games and sitting down in Alvin's painting room.

Alvin had taken to teaching Brittany how to paint so she often spend her time there, switching between watching Alvin paint and reading over the late Mr. Danvers art books. Alvin had started focusing more on his paintings as the art show was getting closer. It had become a game to Brittany to try to get 'information' out of him, or really, see what she knew that she could put in her paper, but he was firm on keeping everything a secret.

He had already explained to her that they planned to reveal his identity next year when he was graduating so they wanted to keep all the secrets until then. Brittany was ecstatic at hearing this, imagining everyone's reaction to finding out Alvin Seville was The Mysterious Painter.

The school year started yet again and both got caught up in homework, not able to hang out unless they were doing homework together. There were no walks around town, or random trips to the ice cream shop. Instead, they spent time together doing homework in Brittany's room, Alvin's room, or Alvin's painting room.

Brittany's learning of art had stalled in favor of school, but she still loved to watch Alvin painting his pictures- seeing him make each one, feel pride in the fact that she was one of the only people who got to see them before the art show and actually got to see the process behind them.

Alvin was so captivating to watch; he was so focused on his paintings, a certain serious nature overtaking him as he painted. He was very detailed, not rushing any little part of his art- each part being equal important to the overall picture. When she was just stressed out, she would stop and watch him paint, growing calm as she did before going back to her work, less stressed now.

As for Alvin, he was so glad that he had told Brittany his secret, because now he had someone to talk to about it; to even share it with, as she showed an interest in wanting to learn art. Over the years, he had grown used to his painting room being empty except for him.

But now that Brittany knows, she often spent her time down here, keeping him company and complimenting him on his art work. And teaching her reaffirmed Alvin in the idea that he wanted to be an art teacher. It was a relief having someone to teach; he had gotten tired of seeing people's art in class and not helping them.

But now, he got to help Brittany and get all his knowledge out of his head where it had been boxed up over the years. It encouraged him enough to speak to Mr. Danvers about his ideas after High School. It was after school, during one of their Tuesday meetings that Alvin brought up the topic. Mr. Danvers was sorting through the art work that his beginner's class had just turned in yesterday when Alvin stopped painting.

"Mr. Danvers?" He looked up at that, setting the sketchbook paper he was studying down on the table.

"Yes Alvin?" At that, Alvin stood, walking over to his desk. Mr. Danvers sat up, figuring it was something serious.

"I wanted to tell you that, after I graduate, I plan to go to college to become a high school art teacher." Alvin hesitantly confessed. Mr. Danvers face lit up at that as he grinned widely.

"Alvin, that's fantastic! I'm absolutely sure you will be an amazing art teacher…" He confidently stated. Alvin smiled at that, less nervous now.

"And- well, I was wondering if I could student teach under you?" Alvin wondered. Mr. Danvers smiled turned proud at that.

"Alvin, I would be proud to have you as a student teacher. I'd even be proud to leave my job to you after I retire, if that is what you wanted." He assured. Alvin brightened at that, grinning in relief.

"It is; I really love this school and would love to come teach at it." Alvin stated.

"Well then, I guess we have it figured out." Mr. Danvers figured.

"I guess we do." And with that, Alvin went back to his painting; Mr. Danvers going back to studying his students drawings. Sooner than expected, Valentine's Day came. It was just as sickening this day, even though both Alvin and Brittany were together.

Sure, they loved each other, but they weren't all lovey dovey to one another. Alvin also liked to point out that, pretty much every single couple he had seen together had broken up, some even having been in other relationships since then. And yet, were still shooting glares at each other as if they had just broken up. Alvin sighed; sometimes he just did not get people his age…

"Hey Alvin!" Brittany exclaimed, walking up to him. He smiled, hugged her tightly. They hadn't been spending much time together lately, pretty much because of Alvin. She'd always invite him over to her house, but he would decline with some lame excuse and race away. But, that would stop after today, Alvin was happy to remember. Pulling back, he pecked her on the lips, "Ready to deal with today?"

"I don't think I ever will be. What about this day, makes all these couples act like this? I feel like I've walked into a soap opera…" Alvin stated, shuddering. Brittany laughed.

"I guess it does feel like that." She agreed. The bell rang, so they said goodbye and headed to their classes. After a while, the bell for lunch rang and Alvin raced through the hallways, stopping outside of Brittany's third period class.

It was her English class, and she absolutely adored her teacher(Mr. Geralds) and often stayed back to talk for a bit. After the rush of classmates emptied the classroom, Alvin looked in and grinned, seeing Brittany talking to Mr. Geralds. Mr. Geralds looked up and grinned, seeing him.

Mr. Geralds was probably one of the only teachers who didn't hate Alvin- he was about sixty years old, with pure white hair and a wrinkly face. He was only a few years older than Mr. Danvers, yet had aged quicker than him by far- Mr. Danvers was already pretty young for his age.

He was determined in believing there was more to Alvin than most teachers thought. Alvin had had him as an English his freshman and sophomore year and he was always patient with Alvin. He defended Alvin when teachers spoke bad of him(as Mr. Danvers had told him), especially when he found out that he got B's and A's in every class; that his attitude was the only problem.

The second Alvin had been told all this by Mr. Danvers, he instantly turned around in Mr. Geralds' class. He didn't care if Mr. Geralds figured out everything; a man as kind as him didn't need to deal with kid's with attitudes. He was upset when he got his schedule this year and saw that he didn't have Mr. Geralds again. But, he often met Brittany here before lunch and got to talk to him.

"Hello Alvin." Alvin smiled, dropping his usual persona- which brought a knowing glint to Mr. Geralds eyes. Alvin wasn't completely sure, but he sometimes felt that Mr. Geralds knew he was the Mysterious Painter, but the man never commented on it, or even hinted about it. Not even when he got a replica of the art board of himself in the art show with a person note. Alvin smiled, thinking back on what he had written.

 _Hello Mr. Geralds; I wish to thank you for all that you do. One of the reasons that I chose you as one of the teachers featured in my art show is because, well, I'm not the kind of student most people would expect me to be. Actually, I think it is because of that that I act the way I do. But, you have never judged me or seen badly of me, even with the persona that I always display to everyone around me. Sadly, my ideas to keep people from guessing my identity put me in a low respect of theirs. But you never cared about what they said, or how I acted to you. You saw more in me and pushed that fact to others. Now, this note may just give away who I am, but I don't care if it does, because even if you did find out my identity, I would trust you absolutely with it. Well, as this note seems to be going on and on, I will end it now. But thank you Mr. Geralds; for everything…_

 _The Mysterious Painter_

After making that personal note that gave away a lot of who he was and could make everyone figure it out, not a word came out. Not once did he mention that he got a personal note, and he didn't mention anything to Alvin(excluding a few knowing looks that made Alvin think that he had figured everything out) that he suspecting something.

"Hello Mr. Geralds; have you had a good day so far?" He stated, stopping by his desk.

"Yes I have. Still annoyed with all the couples out there?" He joked, remembering Alvin complaining to him last year on Valentine's day about people's attitudes that day.

"Of course. Anyone driving you crazy in class today?" Alvin teased. He laughed.

"No more than usual. Well, I'm guessing you two need to get going now?" He wondered, watching their eyes as they glanced at one another and inched closer to the door. They relaxed and nodded.

"Yeah, everyone's waiting on us at lunch." Brittany explained, blushing slightly at being caught. He nodded, grinning.

"Well, don't let old me hold you up. I'll see you both later." He finished. They nodded, saying goodbye before heading out of the room.

"Do you know yet if he knows your secret?" Brittany questioned in a low tone. Alvin sighed.

"I have no clue. Sometimes it feels like he does, but other's it seems he doesn't." Alvin stated. Brittany made to turn right down a hallway, but Alvin stopped her, continuing on ahead.

"Ummm…Alvin, the lunch room is that way." She pointed out. He rolled his eyes.

"I know that. I just have something to show you." He stated. Confused as she was, she just nodded her head and allowed him to pull her where he needed to do. She was not really surprised when they ended up at the art classrooms; it was his favorite place to be in school.

Mr. Danvers was out, but he always left his door open for students to come in a work on projects, or turn things in: no one dared steal from Mr. Danvers. The classroom was empty of students though, most taking advantage of the fact that it was Valentine's day and spending time with their boyfriend/girlfriend.

Brittany stayed by the door, watching as Alvin went to the classroom supply closet. A few moments later, he returned with a long object, wrapped in tissue paper and ribbon. Handing it to her, she grew curious and excited, it being the shape as all of her other presents.

Carefully taking off the ribbons and setting them on the table, she unwrapped the tissue paper. Setting that on the ribbon, she stared down at the painting and smiled. It was in the same style as her last Christmas present; a bunch of colors thickly lined on the page, creating light shapes as if it was a memory someone was looking back on. And in the corner of the page was the date(June 15)

It was a sidewalk view of a date of theirs this summer at the ice cream shop, the date where they had their first kiss- which was being displayed in the picture.

"Is this the reason for all your bad excuses lately?" She assumed, raising an eyebrow at his sheepish expression, "It's amazing Alvin. Thank you…" She whispered, eyes wet. After staring at the painting for a little longer, she gently wrapped it back up, tying it again with the ribbons before setting it down on the desk, pulling her backpack in front of her, to Alvin's confusion.

"I have something for you too." She stated, pulling out a black box. Confused, Alvin took it, setting it on the table. Opening it, his eyes widened in surprise, "I had Mr. Danvers help to find the perfect set…Do you like it?"

Alvin was speechless; the box was filled with sets of oils, organized on different shelves that could move- this was one of the best art sets he'd ever seen and one he had wanted for a while, but never had the time to get it. He looked up, eyes wide at Brittany who was smiling nervously, before grabbing her, pulling her into a tight hug. She sighed in relief, hugging him back.

"Thank you Britt." He whispered. They stepped back a little bit later, chuckling, "Come on, we better get to lunch- the others are probably wondering where we are. We should leave our stuff in here and get it at the end of the day so we aren't lugging it around." Alvin suggested which Brittany nodded to.

With that, they put the stuff away, and quickly headed to lunch, grabbing their food and sitting down at their regular table.

"What took you two so long to get here?" Eleanor wondered.

"We got caught up talking to Mr. Geralds." They nodded at that, understanding now.

"So, how is your first Valentine's as a couple?" Theodore wondered.

"Just as nauseating as last year." Alvin bluntly stated, Brittany nodding in agreement. They all rolled their eyes at that.

"You two are so alike…" Simon stated, sighing. They just grinned at him, starting to eat their food. The rest of the day passed by quickly and, at the end of the day, Alvin grabbed his new paint set, placing it in his backpack, before grabbing his gift to Brittany. Quickly making his way through the hallways, he smiled, seeing her by her locker. Stopping quickly, he handed it to her.

"Here you go!" He stated. She grinned, closing her locker and taking the wrapped painting from him.

"Do you want to go to my house? I can put this away and we can spend time together. I think the guys are also coming over to spend time with my sisters." She speculated. Alvin smiled, grasping her hand as they walked out the school doors.

"Sure; we can finally fully watch Disney's _Robin Hood._ " Alvin had demanded that she watched that movie when he found out that she had never seen it; it had always been one of Alvin's favorite movies growing up.

So when he found out during one of their dates that she had never seen it, and didn't even want to, he was determined to get her to watch it. But, they never seemed to have the time to sit down and actually watch it- but they would this time! (Alvin was hopeful…) They met the rest of the group on the way to Brittany's house. Brittany grinned proudly when Eleanor wondered what she was carrying.

"It's Alvin's Valentine's gift to me." She stated which surprised everyone.

"Wow Alvin; have you opened it yet, Brittany?" Jeanette wondered.

Yeah. I love it…" She sighed, pecking Alvin on the cheek.

"What is it?" Simon questioned.

"It's a secret." Alvin stated nonchalantly.

"It's ok, you can tell us- we won't tell anyone!" Theodore exclaimed.

"We know that, Theo, but it's a secret between Alvin and me." Brittany stated. Though sad, they understood and continued on to the house, laughing and joking about all the over the top love dovey couples at school today.

They spent the next few hours gathered in the living room, doing their homework together, and playing games when they were all finished. A little bit before six, Theodore, Alvin, and Simon had to head home for dinner, promising to spend time together tomorrow afternoon.

The next two months passed by quickly, and soon it was the beginning of April- the fifth to be exact, which just happened to be Brittany's birthday. It had become a tradition now for Alvin to give her paintings as gifts so Brittany was excited to see what the next one was. She often tried to get it out of Alvin or sneak into his painting room to see it, but he always had it hidden away and would never let her see it.

So, since today was her birthday, she was excited to finally see it. She had gotten birthday wishes all throughout school from each of her teachers and her fellow students, but despite how good of a school day it was today, she couldn't wait to get home and have her birthday party(which the Seville boys were, of course, invited to).

Lunch was agonizing for her as she tried to get answers about her party or presents, but no one would give anything away, no matter how hard she tried. So, she was surprised that she didn't squeal in excitement when the final bell rang. Quickly packing up her backpack, she raced out of the door past the usual class rush, arriving at her locker in record time.

Opening her locker and switching from her locker to her backpack, she grabbed everything she would need for homework over the weekend. She started when someone next to her cleared their throat. Looking over, she smiled at Alvin who kissed her cheek.

"So, how's being seventeen going so far?" He wondered.

"No different than being sixteen was. And shouldn't you know, you turned seventeen back in September." She stated, narrowing her eyes at him. Alvin just shrugged, grinning. His birthday was September 16th( yes, he was seven months older than her, ha-ha-ha…), she had gotten him a new easel, as his own was about eight years old and had seen better days.

"Yeah, but it's different for everyone." He countered, "Now, are you ready for your party?" Brittany nodded furiously at that, closing her locker and following Alvin out of the school, heading to Brittany's house.

"So how is everything with your project?" Brittany wondered, sending his a pointing look which she hoped he would understand. He nodded, signaling he did. Though they both knew the secret now, they didn't like talking about it unless they were alone with Mr. Danvers or in Alvin's painting room.

"I'm almost done. I mean, it's due in two weeks so I'm a little stressed, but not too much." He stated. Brittany was excited for him; the art show was on the twentieth of this month(exactly fifteen days away) and Alvin had one more painting to finish, but he was struggling with it a little.

It felt strange; this was the first year where she didn't slave over knowing some crucial knowledge of the Mysterious Painter. She knew it all now, and would not tell anyone the truth. But it felt weird, having already seen all the paintings that would be displayed, even watching the Mysterious Painter paint them over the past year or so.

She often had to hid smiles and chuckles when she saw others at school racing around all year to find out secrets about the Mysterious Painter; Brittany couldn't believe that she used to act like that. No wonder Alvin made fun of her for it all the time…

Alvin looked down at his girlfriend and smiled at the sight; she was bouncing up and down with ever step, going as quickly to her house as she could without looking too eager(which she failed on; everyone who looked at her could tell she was really excited for something and couldn't wait to get there).

They finally arrived at the house and were surprised by everyone(the rest of the group got out of school early to get everything set up). Hugs were given, games were played, delicious cake was eaten, and presents were opened. As Brittany thanked everyone for their gifts, she moved for Alvin's , but he stopped her as always.

"I'll open this one later though." She stated, setting Alvin's gift to lean again the couch. They watch a movie after that, overloading on snack before Alvin and Brittany snuck off to go open Brittany's present in her room. Opening it, she gasped at the painting. In the same style as the last few paintings, it was a painting of them sitting face to face in chairs in Alvin's secret room, the day he revealed his secret to her, with the date in the corner(October 18).

"Thank you Alvin; I never get tired of these." She whispered, "I just wish I could hang them up. But, I know I'll get to sooner or later." She reassured herself after sliding the painting on top of the other paintings he had given her.

"Yeah, when we finally decide to tell everyone my secret." Alvin stated. With that, they all headed out into the living room, where sleeping backs were piled on the floor and blankets covered the couches. They stayed up late, playing video games and watching movies before they all drifted to sleep in the living room.

A little more than two weeks later it was the art show. And despite the fact that she had already seen all the finished paintings over the year, it felt different when they were all together in their section. They affected her in a different way, still stunning her with all their beauty as they displayed different scenes of winter.

Her and Alvin's favorite was still the first painting though- the snowflake one. Thoughts going to Alvin, she turned from taking pictures of the paintings to see Alvin leaning against the same column as always, watching everyone with a smile on his face. He always lit up when he saw people complimenting and enjoying all the hard work he did on his paintings…

The art show was soon over, to the disappointment of everyone, as they would have to wait another year to see more paintings from the Mysterious Painter. What most didn't know though was that that would be the last year of the section.

Alvin and Mr. Danvers had finally talked yesterday and had officially decided that next year would be the last year for the Mysterious Painter's section of the art show. Even more, next year would go a little different than the art show in the past, and Alvin was excited for those events to come to pass.

Only he and Mr. Danvers knew what would happen and, well, the principal- Mr. Young. Not even Brittany or Dave knew the details for next year… The rest of the year went quickly, homework being finished, projects turned in, papers written, and finals taken. Soon, the last day of the school year was finished and everyone headed over to the Seville's house to celebrate.

They spent the afternoon in Simon's science lab, Brittany and Alvin both firmly declining everyone's pleading if they could see Alvin's secret room. They ate sandwiches, talked, and laughed about how good of a school year it was, reminiscing on past years and thinking about the fact that this next year would be their last.

A few days later, it was Alvin and Brittany's one year anniversary, which they planned to celebrate by the water fountain in the middle of their town later at night when everyone would be in their homes(sometimes it was a great thing to live in a small, family run town…). They ate at the food court nearby for dinner, before that having spent the afternoon playing games at the arcade next to the food court. The ended the date, sitting on the wall of the water fountain, holding gifts for each other. Alvin handed his present to Brittany, who was surprised at the incredibly small package.

"I know I usually get you paintings, but I felt like getting you something different for our one year anniversary." He stated. Curious, she opened the box and gasped. Setting the lid of the box down on the water fountains wall, she reached into the box and gently lifted a beautiful silver charm bracelet, dangling with little charms.

"It's beautiful Alvin." Alvin smiled.

"Since all the gifts I've gotten you, you've had to hide, I wanted to give you something that you wouldn't have to hide and could show everyone." She smiled, eyes wet as Alvin reached over, clipping the bracelet onto her right wrist. Sniffling, she shook her head before handing her gift, unwrapped to Alvin.

"Sorry it's not wrapped. I was worried I would ruin it if I did." Alvin started down at the piece of paper in shock. It was a sketch, beautifully done and detailed, of Alvin's secret room.

"I-I know it's sloppy and rushed, but I felt like giving you something that showed I had remembered and learned all that you taught me about art." She stated, staring down at her lap and nervously wringing her hands. Alvin placed the paper on his lap before reaching over and lifting Brittany's chin, kissing her sweetly.

"It's amazing Britt." He whispered. They headed home after that, Alvin dropping Brittany off at her house before heading home to his own, both going to sleep with a smile on their face. The summer passed quickly, everyone spending time relaxing, but also figuring out their future plans.

Simon and Jeanette were already practicing college essays every day, making sure that, but the time they were actually applying to college, their essays would be perfect. Both Eleanor and Theodor were going into culinary arts for college, Simon was going to become a Biologist, and Jeanette wanted to become a librarian.

As for Brittany, she was going to become a journalist, working in the town's newspaper. The others often questioned Alvin on what he was going to go to college for, but as all of his plans involved his identity as the Mysterious Painter, he was incredibly vague about it.

The most Alvin ever stated was that it had something to do with his secret room which, of course, gave absolutely nothing away. Though nervous for the quickly approaching future of adulthood, they were excited to start doing what they love. Alvin especially was excited; soon he would be known for his paintings, no longer hiding behind a fake name.

Soon, it was the first day of school again: The last one the group will ever have all together(Brittany joked that, since Alvin wanted to become a High School teacher, he would never really escape high school- he'd just take a little hiatus for a few year before returning).

It was strange for them all though; it seemed like they were only freshman, the youngest going to school, but now here they were, suddenly seniors and about to turn eighteen sometime during this next school year. As the others reminisced on their memories and how much they'd miss this school, Alvin was glad that he would be coming soon.

High School was definitely not a cake walk for him, what with all the stress his paintings created, and how a lot of the teachers hated him because of his persona. He was often ignored by his fellow peers because of his attitude, or that fact that they perceived him as slow and dumb. He couldn't wait for the art show, when he could start being himself and show everyone who Alvin Seville really was.

Alvin's first few days were spent finalizing the art show plans with Mr. Danvers, as they got permission from the principal. Principal Young didn't know the exact happenings, but he was all too happy to go along with their plans if it had something to do with the Mysterious Painter. But, he had promised to keep silent about everything, and not even tell his own wife.

He didn't even know that Alvin was a part of it, having only spoken directly to Mr. Danvers about it- they were determined to surprise the principal too. Alvin still had art in his final period, and still had art meetings with Mr. Danvers every Tuesday and Thursday. His Eighteenth birthday passed quickly, Alvin taking pride that he had turned Eighteen before everyone else- well, excluding Simon who's birthday was August 13th.

The year passed quickly as first semester finals slowly approached. The group was astonished at how fast time was flying by; it felt like it was still August, but it was actually the end of November. Finals finally came and, luckily, all of them passed with good grades. Once again, the tree was decorated, Christmas music played through both houses, gifts were bought, and snowball fights were started.

Each teenager gave Christmas their all, as it could very well be the last one they were all together for a while. Only Alvin and Brittany planned to stay local for college, hoping to get accepted into the College in the closest city to their little town. Simon and Jeanette were determined to get into one of the Ivy League schools, while Eleanor and Theodore wanted to get into a Culinary Arts College in California.

One Christmas day, presents were unwrapped, some for future life(things they would need in college) and others just things they wanted(books for Jeanette, a new camera for Brittany, etc.). And, of course, while everyone was busy with the usual Christmas traditions Brittany and Alvin snuck off to open Alvin's gift to Brittany.

It added to the collection of paintings Brittany had under her bed. The same style as all the ones before, depicting their first New Years as a couple, as they were in mid-kiss, the date transcribed in the bottom corner(January 01).Their second New Years passed, spent at the Seville's house once again, each teenager celebrating before the school year began.

Alvin got working on Brittany's Valentines' gift early, finding it a good idea to do a painting of their last Valentine's as a gift for their second one, the picture taking place in Mr. Danvers classroom as they exchanged gifts, the date in the corner(February 14). He finished it a week into the school year before he started focusing on his art show paintings, wanting them to be perfect for his last year.

The last theme of the Mysterious Painter's art show section was a dedication to the school. Alvin picked classrooms in the school(giving slight hints as to who he was, as all the classes were with teachers he had had). Mr. Danvers, Mr. Geralds, Principal Young's office, Mrs. Penny's(middle school science teacher), etc.

And each picture depicted a class in there, in the middle of the lesson while the teacher taught up at the board. And, if you looked close enough, in the back of each painting was a boy with brown hair, wearing a red jersey, a red cap, and with a black backpack by his desk-him. The painting was a view of the class from the back wall, so it luckily did not give him away by showing the big yellow initial on his cap and jersey.

Then again, not many people would study the blended painting enough to notice the common character, and definitely not suspect his identity- though admittedly not many people at school wore ad red jacket and cap. It was hard to make out any faces in the swirled paintings, even the faces of the people whose profile was visible.

Valentine's day was just as nauseating for Brittany and Alvin as always, though they stopped in Mr. Danvers room to exchange gifts. Brittany adored her painting and exclaimed that she couldn't wait for the secret to be revealed so she could finally hang all the paintings up.

Brittany had gotten him a book, describing in detail all the paintings done by his favorite artists, which he was determined to start reading that night. Just as Alvin was finishing up his last few art show paintings, the announcement came. Alvin was excited all day, though hid it well- only Brittany sensed something was different, but when she asked she gained no reply.

At lunch time, Alvin quickly race out of Mr. Geralds class(yup; he got him again!) and met up with Brittany just as she was walking out of Journalism class, dragging her to lunch. Sitting down quickly, this time both of the facing the gym stage where all the chorus and band concerts were held, they waited for the rest of their friends to join.

After they did, they all talked together, about the usual things- classes that day; stupid things other students did; presentations; projects. Theodore was currently relaying a hilarious story about another student's cake in Culinary Art's class going totally wrong, when a voice caught their attention.

"Hello? Students? Can I have your attention please?" Looking up to the stage where the voice was coming from, they all saw Mr. Danvers holding a microphone. After a minute or so, everyone was quiet. Alvin quickly noted that all the High School faculty were standing around the walls of the lunch room, confused expressions on each face.

"Thank you. No, as you all know by now, The Annual Art School here at our school is in a month." Everyone cheered at that, excited to see all the paintings- especially in regards to the Mysterious Painter, "Yes, I've very excited as well. But, this year will be a little…different." At that, the room grew completely silent, everyone curious on what Mr. Danvers meant.

"The Art Show will, of course, start on the twentieth of April and run for three days. But, with Principal Young's permission," At Mr. Danvers gesture, the student body turned to see him standing next to the door of the room, waving and smiling(most of the students finally noted all the teachers surrounding them as well, "I have…extended the art show one day." He dramatically stated. Everyone looked around, confused on what the big deal and that was. Sure, it was more time to see the paintings, but still…

"Oh, sorry, I should probably explain myself. Students and Staff, I have something I have to tell you." He paused here, taking a deep breath, meeting Alvin's eyes for a second, "As you know, years ago I created a new section in the art show: The Mysterious Painter." Whispers circled the room at that, an excited and wondering tone to them as they wondered why that was being brought up.

"Now, I had previously had the idea of such a section since I was your age- and yes, I have been your age." He sternly stated at some of the snorts that echoed around the room, "But I could never find the right student to take on such a responsibility-until a little more than nine years ago."

"Now, I know you have a lot of speculation on The Mysterious Painter, as I expected there would be when I first saw this child's potential." Most of the people scoffed at that word, seeing it as an insult, "And no, I am not calling a teenager a child, I am merely calling a child a child." At everyone's confused look, he continued.

"The truth is, he was at that time- yes he still is a guy." He paused at, clarifying because of the looks some gave him, "In fact, The Mysterious Painter has always been a guy." He hastened to explain at that, "Now, I'm not saying that I only choose guys- trust me, my mother would have slap any thoughts of gender equality out of me growing up." He had a sad smile here, remembering his mother.

"What I mean to say is that the same exact Mysterious Painter creating paintings for this year's art show, is the same exact person who created the paintings for the first Mysterious Painter section." Everyone erupted at that, shocked that it had been one person doing all those paintings all these years without telling anyone(at least that they knew about).

"Now, I am sure most of you math fanatics have already figured out how young he must have been when he started if he is still a student now." He stated, gathering everyone attention; continuing when they were all quiet, "And you would be correct- The Mysterious Painter is an art prodigy, learning how to paint and draw from the age of six, being the Mysterious Painter since he was nine." He stated.

"So, by those numbers, we come to my next point which I don't believe many of you will take well." He sighed here, looking down at the microphone in his hands. Gathering the courage, he looked up at the room and spoke, "After this year…I will be discontinuing the Mysterious Painter section of our art show."

Everyone exploded at that, appalled at the idea that the section was being discontinued considering how loved and popular it was. Even the staff was barely controlling themselves; the Mysterious Painter had made their school so much fun over the years with their paintings and speculation on their identity. Soon though, everyone called down to here an explanation, looking incredibly downcast.

"Now, I understand why you are all mad about this. I myself am sad about it as well." Yells like 'well then, don't discontinue it!' echoed around the room, "But, the thing is, that the Mysterious Painter is graduating this year and moving on in life." Everyone quieted at that, excited to learn more about the Mysterious Painter, "I may continue this section in the future, if I find someone worthy of the post who can keep it a secret. But until I find that person, it will be discontinued." He stated firmly.

"Now, as we have reached that point, I will move on. As I stated at the start of speaking, I am extending the art show one day." Pretty much everyone in the room was startled at the jump Mr. Danvers just made, "And I can promise that none of you will want to miss the fourth day. That is because the fourth day will be dedicated to The Mysterious Painter." Whispers started again at that; wondering what a day about The Mysterious Painter would mean.

"The event will take place here in the gym, in the prediction that there will be a lot of people attending." They shrugged; since it was about the Mysterious Painter, the corner the art show usually was in would be too small for the people who would come, "This event will display the new paintings for the art show section this year, as well as the paintings from every year before now since the first." He stated.

"About an hour into the event, I will get up on the stage, like I am doing now," He gestured to his feet at that, "And give you a little background on the person that is The Mysterious Painter. And, after explaining all that, I will reveal the identity of The Mysterious Painter." Everyone was shocked and excited by that; now they knew exactly why it had been moved to the gym- everyone in the whole town will want to come. Looking around the room, he smiled at seeing everyone's reaction.

"Well, I hope this announcement has gotten you all excited for the upcoming art show, and I hope that all of you will be able to attend. One of the three days to see all our student's hard work on their project they've made throughout the year, and I hope you all show up for the fourth day, to find out about the Mysterious Painter's identity. And who knows, maybe it will be someone you guessed it would be…" He hinted at, which got everyone even more excited. Mr. Danvers was about to walk off the stage before he stopped, seeming to remember something.

"Oh, and to the Mysterious Painter," Everyone wildly looked around the room to see if anyone sat up at that, or if Mr. Danvers was looking at anyone specifically- but he was just staring at the back wall, "Don't forget that tomorrow is the due date for the next finished painting for the art show. I expect to see it sitting on my desk by the end of the day." He sternly stated.

Alvin resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. Tomorrow was a Thursday, so Alvin would obviously be giving his finished painting to Mr. Danvers during their meeting after school- he just said that to get everyone even more excited.

"Mr. Danvers, he's such an entertainer…" Alvin muttered so only Brittany would hear. She grinned, nodding slightly- just as excited for the events coming up soon as everyone else. A few weeks later, it was Brittany's birthday and she once again got a blended style painting for her birthday, this time showing their one year anniversary at the water fountain where they exchanged gifts; the date in the corner with the number of years they had been dating for(May 28-1).

Though the art show was incredibly close, Alvin was done with all the paintings except for one and he was inspired by it every time he sat down to finish it, excited to finish his final piece for the art show. So he had enough time to paint a new painting for Brittany's slowly growing collection.

As the days till the art show dwindled down, excitement was felt by everyone in the town, who couldn't wait to find out the secret that had been driving them insane for eight years. Students often sent glances around the classes and hallways, wanting to find any semblance of a person who acted nervous or quickly changed the subject when The Mysterious Painter was brought up.

Alvin watched it with amusement; he'd been around long enough as the Mysterious Painter to know how to act to keep everyone from being suspicious of him. But, it was their choice to do that, so he often just continued on to his classes, wondering what they would think in that moment if they had known the real Mysterious Painter had just walked by them and they didn't even notice.

Soon, it was the day of the annual art show premiere and a buzz followed the school. Everyone walked slow as they passed the corner of the school where they art show was held, grinning as they saw people setting things up- students coming out during all of their art classes to display their paintings and artful creations.

Many glanced over at The Mysterious Painters section, hoping to see his paintings set up, but none were to be seen. Mr. Danvers always put up those paintings after school when no one was near, and left them covered until the show began, which he would then unveil. The school was full of energy, excited yet saddened to see the last paintings of the Mysterious Painter over the next few days.

Students could barely focus in class, though luckily for them, neither could the teachers- who tried to teach for the first few minutes before giving up and asking students to just get started on their homework and projects. Finally, the school day was over, and Alvin and everyone were getting ready to head back to the school to see the art show. When they were finished, they left the house to pick up the Miller's for their last high school art show premiere( _not for me though…_ Alvin thought to himself).

The school was packed, everyone coming for the opening day, unless they had a prior engagement that they couldn't miss today and would come either tomorrow or the next day. Alvin smiled, taking his same spot that he had taken for the past eight years, feeling a pang of sadness of never seeing his paintings in this section ever again; never see the awe on people's faces as the gawked at what he had created.

Of course, he would still paint after this, just more public and under his real name. But he would miss that look of wonder and curiosity as they pondered on just who, exactly, was behind the paintings- never once looking back and zeroing in on the person watching from outside the section, who was the exact person they were thinking of.

"Lost in thought?" A familiar voice next to him questioned. Brittany had finally finished taking pictures of all the paintings and had come to stand next to Alvin, her new camera's strap hanging around her neck.

"I'm just going to miss this." He quietly stated so only she could hear. Brittany's smile was bittersweet at that.

"Yeah…We're graduating soon and going on to College and life as adults. I'm going to miss it here, being a student with all the deadlines, and all our classmates that we have grown up with. We will never been with this whole group ever again. It's a strange thing to think about and realize that it is actually reality." She stated.

"But, we'll come back to this town of course; I plan to live here when I get my degree in Journalism and take a permanent job at the town newspaper, instead of just being an intern through College." She stated.

"We both know I'm coming back here. I can't leave this school, or this town- it's my home." He stated, smiling slightly. They hadn't talked much about their future together, but Alvin didn't want to rush anything. He was content with his life with her right now, and the important choices like getting married, buying a home together, etc. would come when it was time.

They stayed standing there, leaning against that column for the rest of the night, and when Dave called for everyone that it was time to go, they stood and quietly headed out of the school with their group, content not to talk right now and just be alone with their thoughts- wondering what would happen after Alvin's secret was revealed.

The next two days passed quickly for the town. The next two art show nights were packed once again, a lot of people revisiting as they were caught up in the excitement of everything, most holding on to the hope that they would see the Mysterious Painter and recognize him. Alvin wished he had some way to stop them from going there again as it would be a waste of excitement- he would only go back to the school for the fourth night of the art show.

And even if he had went again, they would not have seen and recognized him, just as they never had in the years previous. The fourth day of the art show came quickly. Most students tried to get a look at the gym, which had been roped off and closed so they could set up for that night's special show.

Lunch was outside that day, with the kitchen doors laying wide open for the cooks to still make breakfast and lunch. The set up tables around the door with certain food on each table, organized just like the widows in the cafeteria/gym. The windows that showed the cafeteria to the kitchen were covered with metal shutters and locked.

Even the stage doors that led to the music rooms were locked so students couldn't sneak it that way and see the set up. Only the people setting up were allowed in and a few other people- Mr. Danvers, the Principal, and Alvin. Though Alvin didn't use the key he had to the stage door(the least noticed entryway) as he didn't want to run the risk of anyone who was setting up to see him and grow suspicious.

Dave, while everyone was in school, snuck down to Alvin's painting room and took all his paintings, placing them in his car before driving to the school. He parked next to Mr. Danvers car and, opening the unlocked back, placed all the paintings there. Once he was finished, he and Mr. Danvers helped carry them in as Mr. Danvers had made sure to make Dave one of the people helping set everything up.

The few students who had chosen to eat their lunches in the hallways, watched with wide eyes as the two brought the last few paintings into the room, having brought most of them through the school while everyone was in third period and the hallways were pretty much empty.

No one was suspicious of Dave Seville helping as a lot of other parents in the town had volunteered to help. Even Ms. Miller was in there, setting up easels and focusing on the design of the cafeteria/gym.

Lunch was fun for Brittany and Alvin as their friends sat there, excitedly rambling on and on about their predictions for tonight. And at the fact that The Mysterious Painter could be sitting next to them and they would have no clue(they took a lot of amusement when Eleanor said that as Alvin was, quite literally sitting right next to her).

Art class was interesting as well as all of the students stated how they couldn't wait to find out who The Mysterious Painter was as they had so many questions to ask him on how he did his paintings, who his favorite painters were, and what his favorite style of art was.

Most people wanted to ask if they could, somehow, get a copy of one of his paintings- a common thing going on around school. Mr. Danvers and Alvin kept sharing glances at everyone's conversation- both excited and nervous for the night. Soon, school ended, but as it was a Thursday Alvin stayed back, Brittany joining him this time.

The set up in the cafeteria/gym had been finished and all the adults had gone home when Mr. Danvers ran over after the bell to rope it off, even from the people who had been helping. While Mr. Danvers went through the regular cafeteria entrance, Brittany and Alvin went through the band rooms, using Alvin's key to get onto the stage.

Maneuvering around the few tables and chairs which could not fit in the compartments under the stage, they stopped at the end of the stage, looking around the cafeteria/gym. There were eight sections set up. The first year paintings were set by the main entrance to the cafeteria, and from there the years went up, ping ponging from wall to wall, ending on the right side of the stage, across the room and opposite the first section.

"You excited?" Mr. Danvers stated from behind them as he closed the curtains to hide the leftover chairs and tables from their view.

"Yeah, it's nerve-wracking though, knowing that soon my secret will be exposed. I can't even begin to imagine what school will be like tomorrow…" Alvin muttered.

"You'll probably be stared at from the second you arrive at school and during every class, even by the teachers." Mr. Danvers assumed.

"And don't forget your brothers and my sisters; they don't know yet either and you have to go home with them." Brittany pointed out, grinning. Alvin sighed, defeated.

"Well, that's one awkward car ride coming soon…probably another one for when we go to school tomorrow." He remembered.

"It must be strange though; you've both kept this secret for years and now it will be revealed…" Brittany stated.

"Yeah, it's a weird thought to think that I'll go to school tomorrow and not have to pretend anymore that I hate art. I can actually and truly participate in art class tomorrow." He laughed here, "I wonder how Mr. Truman will react to this information…" Mr. Danvers grinned at that.

"Maybe I should take tomorrow off; let him take the class for the day…" Mr. Danvers teased, looking as if he was thinking. Alvin shuddered.

"Don't even _joke_ about that. It would pretty much be a class of everyone staring at me, making me prove to them that I was the Mysterious Painter and it wasn't some joke or something." Alvin stated, repulsed.

"Well, we have about two hours until the event starts. I guess we'll just have to wait and see instead of speculating on everyone's reaction…" The next two hours passed slowly, but soon it was thirty minutes before the event would start and everyone was piling into the school, buying food that lined the outside of the cafeteria. There were even a few camera crews from new stations around the area, as the original Mysterious Painter was to be revealed tonight and even people in nearby states were excited to know.

The doors were to be opened by Mr. Danvers at precisely five, who was in the room making some finishing touches on the room. Brittany and Alvin were in there, Brittany taking pictures for the newspaper and Alvin walking around, looking at all his paintings. He grinned when he stopped and stared at this year's paintings, seeing his own figure sitting in each classroom. He wondered if anyone noticed his hints in the paintings, or if they just brushed them off.

Finally, the doors were about to be opened and Brittany and Alvin snuck up onto the stage to hide, planning to sneak out into the crowd with the room was packed. Dave had told the girls and boys that, since Alvin was already at the school of his usual Thursday activities, he would stay there for the show. Brittany had gone early to take pictures of the art show before everyone swarmed the room so they weren't joining them on the car ride.

Soon, Mr. Danvers opened the doors and everyone moved into the room, gasping at seeing all of The Mysterious Painter's paintings from art shows over the years all in that room. Most immediately ran to look at their favorites, holding cameras and phones. The younger students who hadn't seen some of the first years of sections went to those, marveling at the beauty of them.

The adults that had seen all of them, started over- remembering what their children in high school had told them; that the first year paintings were made by a _third grader_. It amazed them, considering the talent of the paintings. After about five minutes, Brittany snuck into the crowd as no one was paying attention to the stage, too focused on the paintings. She walked over to her friends and sisters, Ms. Miller having joined them.

"Hey Brittany. Did you get all your photos done?" Theodore questioned.

"Yup; I did." She stated. Jeanette sighed.

"You're lucky to have gotten to see the set up early; and all by yourself. We have to practically fight through the crowd to get to somewhere." She explained, gesturing to the people around her.

"Where's Alvin?" Simon wondered.

"I believe he was finishing up a few things in his after school activity." She lied, when really he was currently sneaking off of the stage through the back door and walking to the kitchen, so he could enter the room that way, avoiding everyone's attention.

He didn't want to be in the middle of the crowd or near his siblings and friends when his identity was revealed: he planned to sneak in through the cafeteria door while everyone was watching Mr. Danvers standing up on the stage, gathering their attentions. He would stay by the cafeteria shutters, out of plain few as everyone would expect him to be standing in the crowd.

"What does he do on Tuesdays and Thursdays? He's never told us." Eleanor remembered. Brittany shrugged, pretending she didn't know either, sharing a look with Dave. They walked around the room after that, marveling at all the paintings they hadn't seen for year, each pointing out their favorites from each year and overall.

Though Alvin seemed calm if you looked at him, he was a ball of nerves. He was worried on how everyone would react when they found out he was The Mysterious Painter. He wasn't oblivious; he knew what most people thought of him- it was what he wanted them to think so they wouldn't suspect him being The Mysterious Painter. But, while those ideas have been an advantage to him over the years so he could keep his secret safe, right now it kept him at a disadvantage.

Everyone openly admired The Mysterious Painter, speculating on how good of a student he was and how respectful he must be. And Alvin was a good student and he was respectful towards people, but people hated his attitude, thinking he was arrogant and annoying, always ready to tease someone. And they were right, Alvin was a prankster and a teaser; had always been his whole life- that was a part of him.

But everyone saw those attributes in a negative light, labeling him as a troublemaker, when he wasn't really- had never caused too much trouble to people, and was never cruel or mean to anyone. People just heard his constant teasing and thought he was being mean and cruel, but teasing was his way of joking and he meant nothing rude by it.

He was worried that everyone would be disappointed; that they second his secret was revealed that they would be outraged. And they have every right to be; though Alvin's teasing wasn't cruel, it was still annoying and painted him with a bad image that people had immediately taken as the real Alvin Seville, instead of looking deeper. Even his own friends and brothers thought that was the real him, though they at least knew he was kind and a good person.

They thought the teasing and hatred of art was a part of him and never chose to look deeper. Only Brittany stopped and saw something different in him, saw who he really was. Alvin shook his head; he couldn't change the past. He had made the decision to act like he hated art and had chose to be an unnecessary big teaser and he would have to live with that and just try hard over the next month or so to change everyone's idea of him.

"Hello everyone?" Mr. Danvers voice sounded around the room through the microphone he held on the stage, making everyone immediately quiet down and focus on him. Excitement moved around the room as they knew what this meant, "The art show has been going on for an hour now, so, like I promised, it is time I told you a little story." He sat down on the chair he'd placed there, not wanting to stand while he explained.

"I guess I should start from the beginning- so you get the full story. It wasn't I who discovered The Mysterious Painter first: my mother did. It was a few years ago, about ten to be exact. I had just gotten home from work on a Friday afternoon when my mother called me. She told me that there was a kid in her neighborhood who came over to her house often and had taken a special interest in my late father's art studio in her house. She spoke of the talent the kid had grown to have wit hart, of how he flew through each book my father owned on the study of art, and how much he loved the subject." He started, looking around the room.

"I was excited to here that a young kid in first grade had taken such a focus to art, enough to catch the attention of my mother. When she asked me if I would take some time after school to work with the kid, I agreed immediately. But, the second she mentioned the kid's name, well I had to say I grew skeptical." He chuckled here.

"I had heard a lot about this kid around school and town: he had quite the reputation, despite the fact that he was only a first grader, he was seen as a rambunctious kid, always ready to get into trouble." Everyone exchanged glances at that, not expecting such a painting of The Mysterious Painters beginning.

"In fact, the reason he started spending so much time at my mother's house was because he would prank someone, or create some kind of trouble, and run away to hide from people; my mother often saw him racing by to hide and invited him to hide with her. Soon, he started spending hours at my mother's house, baking with her, reading with her, watching movies, and of course going into my father's art studio." He explained.

"I knew my mother adored the kid from how she spoke of him, but my mother had always had the habit of seeing the best in people, no matter what anyone else thought. The kid was not a mean person, or cruel, he just liked to have fun, which created trouble for other people when he played pranks on people." He added at everyone's shocked gazes.

"But, I agreed and headed over to my mothers, as she said that the kid was over at her house right now, drawing in my father's art studio. When I got there, I was absolutely astonished at the kid's art skills; I should have known by then not to underestimate my mother." He joked, making everyone chuckle as they remembered the late Ms. Danvers.

"Here was a little first grader with a reputation, creating art that my best high schooler's couldn't even do! My mother had found a true child art prodigy. So I put the child's reputation behind me and spent a few afternoons a week with the kid in my art classroom, teaching him more and more about art. He slowly perfected his skills, learning all the different types of art that he could learn." He smiled, remembering Alvin back at that age.

"Soon, my idea of this kid was washed out of my mind completely. He was seen by people as slow and unfocused, but he was absolutely brilliant, soaking up any information you gave him- you just had to leave him alone to his own devices for him to learn quickly." Alvin blushed at the praise Mr. Danvers was giving him.

"It was in his third grade that, when he was bringing me his first individual painting he had done himself," Mr. Danvers pointed to one specific painting in the first section, "that I offered a position in my art show. He was absolutely shocked, as even he knew how hard it was to get into my art show." He paused here, looking around the room.

"But, he hesitated, wondering what everyone would think. He was incredibly self conscious of his art as he knew what everyone thought of him." People frowned at that, not liking the fact that a little third grader had such a reputation. People thought back to the first art section year of The Mysterious Painter, but couldn't think of any with such a bad reputation.

"He was worried though, that even if they loved his art, that the second they saw his signature, they would grow suspicious and think it wasn't true or think less of his paintings. So, I came up with a different idea: he became The Mysterious Painter. This way, he could proudly show off his art, and his reputation would affect everyone's thoughts of his art." Mr. Danvers grinned here.

"We definitely did not expect the hype that his paintings got. Everyone became obsessed with who the real painter was. After seeing everyone's reaction, I went to The Mysterious Painter; asked if he would change him mind and reveal himself, enrolling his paintings in the art show under his real name." Mr. Danvers frowned here, sadness and sympathy etched across his face.

"But he immediately refused; still lost in those same thoughts of rejection. He created a persona, one that made everyone think that he hated art; that he didn't see that point of it. In the middle of the excitement about The Mysterious Painter, it drove everyone crazy that he had such 'disrespect' for art." Mr. Danvers stated, using air quotes.

"It made it so people disconnected The Mysterious Painter with his true identity, not believing someone so gifted at art could be so hateful towards it, even if it was all a game." Whispers echoed around the room at that, not having expected such a fact. The real Mysterious Painter pretended to hate art? No wonder they had never figured out his identity!

"Over the years, as you searched and searched to find who The Mysterious Painter was, he stayed in the shadows, never joining any conversation about the subject. Not even his friends or family knew the secret. Only myself, my family, his guardian, and one other person knew the truth." Everyone was astounded at what Mr. Danvers just said- that such low numbers knew the secret.

'Guardian?' Some people wondered, as usually you wouldn't call them just a guardian, but instead dad, mom, grandpa, grandma, etc. This was quite the information overload; they never thought the Mysterious Painter situation was so complex; they just thought it was a fun game to make the art show popular.

"It had been eight years since the first Mysterious Painter section of the art show started and, as I told the high school a month ago, I am discontinuing The Mysterious Painter section of our art show after this year." Everyone was sad at that idea, "That is because The Mysterious Painter is graduating this year, and I would like to choose a student worthy of the position properly, not just rush to find one over the rest of the year and the summer for the next art show."

"As for The Mysterious Painter…" He trailed off here, not knowing what to say, "He agreed that now was they time to reveal his identity and has helped me throughout the year, come up with this 'fourth day of the art show'. Now, many of you may be shocked, or astonished by just who The Mysterious Painter is. Some of you may even think I'm lying, making up who he really is, but I assure you, the person I say, is the real Mysterious Painter." He firmly stated.

"Now, to have some fun with his identity reveal, The Mysterious Painter really focused on this year's art show paintings." Everyone turned to look at that section and nodded, "In each, you see a class, each seeming as if they were randomly chosen. Well, that is not the case." Whispers circulated at that, everyone trying to get a closer look at the section, or pulling out phones/cameras with pictures of that section.

"In each painting, is a classroom that The Mysterious Painter has been enrolled in throughout the four buildings of our school. And, if you look closely in each painting, you will find one student; one student dressed exactly the same in every single picture, from a younger him in the same outfit, to his own self in this year in the same outfit. That person, is The Mysterious Painter." The paintings and pictures were studied intently, trying to find a similar person. But all the outfits look the same.

"Wait a minute…" Simon muttered, looking from painting to painting. If he didn't know this outfit perfectly, he would have brushed it off. But, sitting in the back of every classroom was a kid in a red jacket and red cap. If he even looked closely, he could just barely see the top of a yellow symbol on the cap.

His mind raced, taking in all that Mr. Danvers had hinted at. He has a guardian, is a prankster, pretends to hate art, and never talks about The Mysterious Painter. He is graduating this year, always spent his days at the late Ms. Danvers house, and spent some afternoons at school with Mr. Danvers.

Eyes widening, remembering that Mr. Danvers said his guardian knew, Simon looked up at Dave, who was staring back had him with a knowing look in his eyes. He turned to face the stage, to see Mr. Danvers was also watching him, a proud look in his eyes. _Alvin..?_ He thought to himself. He woke up at that, quickly looking around the room for his brother. Knowing Alvin, he would stay clear of the crowd, liking to stay out of the spotlight.

Simon froze when he finally spotted him in the back of the room, leaning against one of the cafeteria shutters. He seemed relaxed, but Simon could see the tension that filled him in his eyes, tensed shoulders, and clenched fists. As if sensing his gaze, Alvin met Simon's eyes and froze, seeing the realization in Simon's eyes.

Simon stood there, staring across the room at his adopted little brother, the brother that he had thought he knew his whole life inside and out, but now…now he realized there was so much more to his little brother than he had ever thought. Thinking back on what Mr. Danvers said, he felt guilt for ever allowing his little brother to think he thought badly at him.

He felt bad for even letting himself think badly about him. He knew his brother had a good heart, and was smart, he just let Alvin's attitude get to him and block that Alvin. 'I'm sorry…' Simon mouthed to Alvin. Whatever Alvin was expecting, it wasn't that. His eyes widened in shock at the apology. He had expected Simon especially to be mad at that.

But all he saw was sympathy, sadness, wonder, and guilt in his older brother's gaze. Seeing that his brother had accepted the truth and didn't think bad of him, Alvin let his stupid persona go, grinning happily, mouthing, 'it's alright, Si' to him.

Looking around, the room, Simon was shocked to see that no one else in the place had figured it out. I mean, sure they didn't know Alvin like Simon did, but his outfit was pretty signature. Who else wore a bright red jacket and cap to school? Looking to his friends, he saw them muttering about 'a student in a blue shirt and dark jeans in every picture', debating on if that was him.

Only Brittany stood off to the side, a knowing look in her gaze. Simon's mind jumped back to what Mr. Danvers said about one other person knowing Alvin's secret. If Simon had to hazard a guess, he was sure that someone was Brittany.

"Theo…" He muttered, grabbing his little brother's attention. He turned from the conversation, and seeing his brother's expression, walked towards him away from the crowd.

"Yeah, Si?" He innocently wondered.

"Look at the back desks of each room in the paintings." He muttered lowly so no one other than Theodore would here. Confused but curious, he nodded, gazing at each painting. Slowly the realization dawned on him.

"It's…" He whispered, seemingly too shocked to say Alvin's name, his gaze lying on the boy in the back with the red jack and cap- his brother's signature look. Theodore then looked around widely, searching for their other brother in the crowd.

"Back of the room, by the cafeteria shutters." He directed. Nodding, Theodore found Alvin quickly and grinned proudly- of course Theodore was too caring to see anything bad in something his older brother would protect so wildly. Alvin grinned back at his two brothers, relief shinning in his eyes at their acceptance of his secret.

"Well, of course him family would be first to figure the secret out." Mr. Danvers' voice suddenly cut in, making everyone turned to look at him. The crowd glanced around the room, looking for anyone he was staring at, but his gaze was staring nowhere near Simon and Theodore, "I show have known they know their brother too well not to figure it out when given the facts." He stated.

"Well," He sighed here, "I guess I should stop beating around the bush and reveal who it is. If you look at each painting, you will find a figure sitting in the back of each class, wearing a strange outfit: A red jacket and a red cap. Now, which senior in our illustrious school, comes every day, wearing a red jacket and a red cap?" He pretended to puzzle on. At that, all the students eyes slowly widened, realization hitting them.

'It couldn't be…'

'He's not serious…'

'That's who The Mysterious Painter is?'

'Alvin?'

"Yes, everyone, The Mysterious Painter is none other than, Alvin Seville." He stopped at that, waiting for everyone to explode. Voices soon rang out, stating their disbelief at that being the true identity of The Mysterious Painter. Even the adults were shocked; everyone in town knew about Alvin Seville and his reputation.

The news stations were confused, only one of them being from this town, so they had no clue what the big deal was about Alvin Seville. They kept trying to get information out of the crowd on who Alvin Seville was, but everyone was too shocked to get into an analysis of the person who was Alvin Seville.

"Alvin?" Jeanette stated, shocked.

"Yes, it is him." At everyone's look at his sure statement Simon shrugged, "Theo and I figured it out right before Mr. Danvers spoke, like he said." He turned to Brittany here grinning, "And my guess is that you, Brittany, are the one person who found out that Mr. Danvers was talking about." Her sisters turned to face her at that, as she laughed.

"Nothing gets by you Simon when you figure something out." She stated, laughing, "Alvin told me in October of our junior year." She explained.

"You've known that long?" Eleanor exclaimed. She nodded.

"Why else do you think I stopped bugging Mr. Danvers about The Mysterious Painter last year?" She wondered.

"I thought you had just resigned yourself to waiting to find out his identity!" Theodore stated, shocked as well.

"Nope."

"Wait…" Simon stated, his mind still speeding around and around, figuring things out, "Alvin's secret room. It's an art room, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's where he keeps all his paintings from the art shows." She stated. Jeanette gasped suddenly.

"That's why you got those two paintings! Alvin heard you mention what your two favorites were, and he painted them for you." She smiled slightly, realizing something else, "Aww, he liked you even back then…"

"Well, this is quite the revealing night…" Eleanor faintly stated.

"It is isn't it?" Dave stepped in.

"And you've known this whole time!" Ms. Miller exclaimed.

"Of course, I am Alvin's guardian after all." Dave explained.

"Where is Alvin?" Eleanor wondered, looking around the crowd. Simon leaned forward once again at that.

"Don't bring attention to him, as I doubt he wants everyone surging around him right now, but he's in the back of the room by the cafeteria shutters…" Simon warned. Jeanette, Eleanor, and Ms. Miller really wanted to look over, but they noticed all the people staring at them, trying to listen in on their conversation and chose not to.

"I can't believe it though…Alvin is absolutely amazing at drawing. He was always so believable when he said he hated art." Jeanette stated, with everyone agreeing, even Brittany.

"Yeah; Alvin, an art prodigy- who would've thought…" Eleanor stated.

"I wish we could somehow sneak to the back to talk to him without drawing attention to ourselves." Theodore wished.

"He isn't there anymore though… He told me that he would sneak into the kitchen after his identity was revealed so he wouldn't be swarmed by everyone." Brittany answered. Looking over out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Alvin had disappeared from the back wall.

"Well, why don't we visit him?" Eleanor innocently offered. They froze at that. They could do that, if they left the room, feigning leaving early, and sneak in there. Jeanette deflated at that though, as a thought came to her.

"But they locked the kitchen doors and none of us have a key…"

"Well…" Dave nonchalantly stated, reaching into his pocket, "It's a good thing I still have my kitchen key from volunteering to set up today." They grinned at that and slowly made their way out of the room, when asked they said they were leaving to 'go home early'. They left out the entrance and, as the outside area was clear of people, snuck through the kitchen door. Stepping inside, they saw Alvin standing in the room, leaning against the back wall.

"Alvin!" Theodore exclaimed. Alvin's head snapped up at that, growing shocked to see all of them.

"Guys?" He muttered, "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see you!" Eleanor exclaimed as Dave closed the door behind them, locking them in. They all surrounded Alvin, though not crowding around him.

"So…you guys aren't mad?" He hesitantly questioned. They laughed at that.

"Of course not, Alvin! We understand why you kept it all a secret." Simon stated, fixing his glasses.

"I can't wait to see what school's going to be like for you tomorrow…" Theodore wondered. Alvin groaned at that.

"Please don't remind me; I'm already dreading it. I can just picture all the gawking and suspicious looks I'm going to get." He grumbled.

"It's ok; if it gets too much, we'll protect you." Eleanor teased.

"What's got you so happy, Britt?" Jeanette inquired, staring at her grinning sister.

"I'm just glad I finally get to hang my paintings up." She excitedly answered. Everyone turned to stare at her at that, Alvin chuckling.

"Paintings?" They chorused; even Dave was confused.

"Of course you're excited about that…" He muttered, grinning.

"Wait. What paintings?" Everyone repeated.

"What do you guys think I got her for holidays and her birthday?" Alvin brought up.

"I've had all of them stacked under my bed, but now I get to hang them all up." She rambled.

"Awww…Why does she get all the paintings?" Theodore grumbled.

"Um…because she's my girlfriend." Alvin slowly stated.

"But we're your brothers!" Theodore and Simon exclaimed. Alvin just shrugged, grinning.

"And your point is?" Alvin joked, looking deep in thought. They just glared at him, "Nahhh, I'm just kidding- if I make you paintings, will you finally be _happy_ and stop _nagging_ me?" He teased. They pouted involuntarily, glaring at him, but nodded.

They spent the next while chatting, laughing, and joking about, jumping from subject to subject as time moved along. In the middle of a conversation about Theodore's newest recipe, the door opened and Mr. Danvers appeared.

"You can all come out now, everyone's gone." He stated.

"How did you know where we were?" Simon wondered.

"Well, Brittany and I knew Alvin would sneak away to the kitchen, so I figured she would tell you and, as Dave has a key, you would stay in here until everyone leave." He stated, holding the door open for them, "I've cleaned up the room and put away all the easels. All your paintings are sitting on the stage so you can grabbed them all to bring them back home."

"Thanks Mr. Danvers." Alvin stated, smiling. Mr. Danvers laughed.

"Oh, don't thank me yet. Tomorrow is going to be absolutely horrible for you. Everyone seems to have accepted that you're The Mysterious Painter, though some people are still skeptical. I think even some of the new stations are staying tomorrow and try to get an interview from you." He revealed. Alvin groaned.

"Well, doesn't that sound fun…" He sarcastically answered, turning to Dave, "Can I stay home tomorrow?" He put on his best puppy dog face here.

"Nope; sorry, but you're going to have to face them sometime. You might as well get it over with." Dave denied, pointing out the facts. Alvin sighed, but nodded.

"Don't worry; we'll all help you tomorrow. You won't be going it alone." Theodore reassured.

"Thanks Theo…" He returned, warmly smiling. After piling all of the paintings into the Seville's car, they said goodbye; the girls going with Ms. Miller and the boys with Dave. The next day came all too quickly for Alvin. He trudged down the stairs, grumpy. Sitting at the table, he dug slowly into his toaster waffles, hoping that the slower he ate the slower time would go by.

"Stop being so down, Alvin. The most people would do is stare, and maybe ask a few questions." Dave reassured.

"But what about the new stations?" He brought up.

"Maybe they won't be so bad." Theodore optimistically guessed.

"Let's hope Theo, let's just hope…" Alvin muttered, eating faster now. Soon they were grabbing their backpacks and piling into the car. They stopped at the Miller's house as always, waiting for the girls to come out and climb into the car. As they headed towards the school, Jeanette turned to face Alvin.

"The paintings you made for Brittany are amazing, Alvin." She complimented.

"Yeah! We watched her put them all up as she explained what each of them was." Eleanor explained. Alvin grinned at Brittany, amused. She shrugged, unaffected by his attitude.

"They'd been under my bed for too long. And they are amazing." She admitted, smiling thankfully at Alvin. As they pulled up to the school, Alvin took a deep breath. There wasn't anyone out in the parking lot as they had arrived right before the bell, to save Alvin from being surrounded.

Sighing in defeat, Alvin followed his brothers, friends, and girlfriend out of the car, waved goodbye to Dave, before walking into the school. The second Alvin stepped into the school, all conversations stopped as every person in the hallway turned to face him. He was shaken out of his thoughts by someone grabbing his hand tightly.

Turning to look to his left, he smiled gratefully at Brittany. With that, he and his friends continued through the hall, debating about the newest movie coming out that they wanted to see. Trying to ignore the stares, Alvin joined the conversation.

Having thought ahead the night before, Alvin grabbed all the things he would need for this morning; it made his backpack heavy, but it was so he wouldn't have to go to his locker this morning. He knew he would half to to get his afternoon books, but he might as well push it off as long as he could.

They soon split up to head to their lockers, each giving Alvin encouraging looks. Alvin followed Brittany to her locker, talking about their college application to college, planning to go in January. After switching out her things, Brittany closed her locker, leaning against it to talk with Alvin.

Finally, the bell rang and the two headed to class. Sadly, they did not have the same first period, but the classes were the same way. As they reached Brittany's class, they reluctantly said bye before Alvin turned and quickly hurried down the hallways to his class, trying hard to ignore all the stares and whispered words.

 _Seems the only topic of conversation today was him_ …Alvin snidely stated to himself. He finally reached his first period and walked in, almost freezing as he saw the room was absolutely silent, all the students and even the teacher staring at the door, more than likely waiting for him. Mentally sighing, Alvin turned into the classroom walking to the back, where his usual seat was.

Placing his backpack on the floor and sitting down, Alvin counted every second until the final bell would ring. It seemed no one was confident enough to walk up to him and ask questions, which he was grateful for, but the staring was nerve-wracking: Alvin just hoped they didn't continue this into class…

The bell rang and, to Alvin's relief, everyone turned to face the teacher as he stood and began the lesson. They had a test in the class on Monday(mental groan at that thought) so the teacher just instructed them on what to do before letting them each continue their study guide they had been given at the start of the week.

Already having finished his after school yesterday as he had no paintings to paint, Alvin reached into his backpack, pulling out a regular pencil and his sketchbook. He had come up with a new idea for a painting the other day and was excited about it.

He hadn't figured out all the details yet, so he was constantly working on it, drawing, erasing, changing, and redesigning. It was flipped on the page, the bottom of the picture being with the spirals- a picture of a town at night; a street deserted of people.

"Woah…" A voice from in front of him spoke. He froze, before his head snapped up. Apparently Henry Anderson had also finished his study guide early, and had plucked up the courage to turn around to talk to him, but instead had seen his drawing.

Hearing his voice in the quiet room, other's turned to look. The others nearby got a glimpse of Alvin's drawing and gapped in awe, before Alvin slammed his sketchbook closed, facing burning. Wanting to avoid all the stares, he burrowed his head into his folded arms on the desk.

 _What was I thinking drawing in the middle of class today?_ He demanded of himself. He often spent his classes drawing in his sketchbook, as no one really paid attention to him. He had thought everyone was busy with the study guide after a few minutes of no one looking back at him, so he chose to draw.

"He really is The Mysterious Painter…" Someone whispered near him, more than likely one of the people who had seen his drawing. _Great, good to know you all trust Mr. Danvers when he tells the truth,_ Alvin sarcastically thought to himself. Whispers surged around the room again at the students' words, the teacher not even trying to stop them.

The rest of the class slowly went by, Alvin not even once lifting his head from his arms, knowing he'd only meet stares, ranging of different emotions. The bell rang and Alvin put his stuff in his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder and heading out of his class. He was just glad that his next class was with Brittany and Theodore.

Quickly entering the classroom, he slid into his seat between Theodore and Brittany; he was so happy today that this teacher didn't have assigned seating like the rest of his teachers, other than Mr. Danvers, had. Apparently, news had spread(through mouth, phones, or whatever) because everyone was whispering about the confirmation of him being The Mysterious Painter.

"Alvin, what happened last period? Everyone says you confirmed you were The Mysterious Painter." Brittany quietly questioned.

"We had some free time, and as no one was paying attention to me anymore, I pulled out my sketchbook to draw." He confessed.

"Oh, that's why they're all freaking out." Theodore remarked, glancing around the room.

That class passed a lot better than first period, Alvin being guarded by both Theodore and Brittany. Soon it was to third period, which Alvin had with Simon. Unfortunately though, the seating chart put him on the other side of the room, while Alvin was up front by the door. Well, at least he could escape quickly to lunch when the bell rang…

Walking into the class, he spared no glance at anyone in the room, already knowing that they were all staring at him, and plopped into his seat. The teacher walked in and immediately got into the lesson. They were to go through the science book and answer all the questions on the worksheet, to be turned in at the end of class. Alvin froze at her next words: They were to work in pairs today.

 _Could this day get any worse?_ He thought to himself, feeling all the students gazes on him; they wanted to pair up with him so he could answer their questions about everything. As some started towards him, they were stopped as a voice called out.

"Alvin! Would you like to be my partner today?" Simon's calm and calculated voice wondered. Feeling relief and gratitude to his other brother, he met his eyes and quickly nodded, standing up, grabbing his backpack, and speed walking to the other side of the classroom. Simon pulled a vacated chair up next to him as Alvin made his way over, smiling in understanding as Alvin slumped down into the chair.

"Thanks Si. I could not imagine having to be paired with anyone else…" He muttered. Simon nodded, pulling out his science book and a pencil. Alvin quickly copied his older brothers' actions, getting to work on their assignment. They spent the rest of the class immersed in their classwork, ignoring all the glances over to them and the whispers.

"How you've dealt with this all day, I have absolutely no clue…" Simon muttered at one point, glancing at the students out of the corner of his eye. Alvin just sighed.

"Well, what else can I do? Try to talk to them?" He snorted, "No thanks." Finally, the bell rang and the two brothers packed up, heading towards the lunch room like the rest of the students. Grabbing their food, Alvin exasperated at the fact that even the lunch ladies were looking over at him as they passed him food.

Alvin walked across the room, tense as he passed each table of staring students. They were all silent as he walked by, before erupting into rampant whispers after he had passed. Everyone at his table gave him sympathetic looks as he sat down beside Brittany.

"Everything's been ok today, right Alvin?" Jeanette hesitantly inquired. He grinned slightly at that.

"All the attentions strange, but no one has come up to me." _Yet…_ Alvin stated in his mind, digging into his grilled cheese and tomato soup. He was in the middle of his meal when someone sat down in the empty seat across from him. Looking up, Alvin was surprised to see an adult instead of a student like he expected.

She was impeccably dressed, in a shy blue shirt, with a black suit jacket, slim fitting jeans, and stylish boots. From Brittany's gasp, he guessed she was some reporter she knew of, probably part of the news crew around school that he had, fortunately, not run in to today.

"Hello. You're Alvin Seville, right?" She wondered, though it was obvious from all the stares he was. She held her hand out, which Alvin respectfully shook, "I'm-"

"Angela Lunar…" Brittany whispered in awe. She turned to face Brittany and smiled kindly.

"So you've heard of me." She remarked. Brittany nodded at that, causing Angela's smile to grow before she turned to face Alvin, "My news crew was one of the one's filming last night's art show, and we were quite surprised. I mean, I am not from here so I was confused at everyone's reaction. But, your principal informed the other reporters and I about your…reputation." She stated, which made Alvin frown slightly, wondering what she had heard.

"If you don't mind me saying, I am incredibly impressed." Alvin's eyebrows shot up at that, that not being what he expected her to say, "I mean, a child prodigy from first grade, having outstanding grades, yet you developed such a persona that it made people write you off as a troublemaker. And the fact that you hid it from everyone for almost ten years…it's astounding." She complimented.

"Ahh…Thanks." Alvin stated, stunned at the reporters words.

"I was wondering if you would be alright with doing an interview with me and the other reporters." She questioned. At his expression, she spoke again, "I understand if it is a no, I mean it's a lot to take on. I can tell you're not much of a person for attention…" She commented, glancing around at all the stares and Alvin's tense figure throughout the lunch time.

"I…well, I'm not really a person for attention." Alvin started. He glanced around the room, seeing all the curious stares, before sighing, "But I know a lot of people have questions, and the stares will probably only stop when the questions are answered." He realized, going silent.

"It seems this topic has gained a lot of the popularity over the years, you have created quite the legacy in your secret identity- many other schools have adopted the same idea." She stated, "So, stares are only expected. But, I understand if you would rather stay out of the spotlight as much as you can. You're about to graduate high school, go on in life. I doubt you want this to follow you everywhere."

"I'll do the interview; it'll be nice to actually address people as The Mysterious Painter, instead of shying away from that." Alvin admitted. She grinned, excited at his acceptance.

"I'm glad to hear that, Alvin. I'm sure a lot of people will be excited to hear the whole story." She guessed, "Many of us news stations have to head back to our work places tomorrow, so would you be alright with meeting with us after school? We can do it in your art room class, so as to make you as comfortable as possible." She hinted at. Alvin nodded.

"Sure. It's my last class anyway. You'd just have to ask Mr. Danvers; but I'm sure he'll say yes." Alvin brought up, smiling.

"Thank you Alvin. And if you're worried for the interview, you can choose to answer whichever questions you want to, and can stop at anytime. We don't want to make you uncomfortable and nervous." She added, which Alvin smiled gratefully at, before once again shaking his hand, smiling at Brittany, and leaving the cafeteria.

"Well, that went well." Eleanor exclaimed, smiling. Alvin nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, I know people have a lot of questions." He countered, "I mean, even you guys had questions, and I answered those when we were in the school's kitchen. I need to answer other people's questions as well."

"It's a great idea Alvin." Brittany reassured, getting over her starstruck mania. They continued eating after that, and a little before the bell rang, he headed off to his locker to switch out his books for his next classes: math, and then workshop, and finally art class. As he turned, he slammed into Ashley Gergan, who owned the locker next to his. Since Alvin always stuffed his books into his backpack, his things were safe, but all she was carrying fell to the floor.

"Sorry Ash, I was lost in thought." He apologized, bending down to pick up the books with her. Ashley was a sophomore, and she was just as shy as Jeanette, if not more. Ashley lived across the street from the Seville's and often came over with her little brother. She blushed, nodding.

"It's ok." Her quite voice stated, "I was lost in thought as well…" Chuckling, Alvin looked down at the things on the ground and paused.

"Wow…" He muttered, staring at the opened drawing book. Alvin knew that Ash was in drawing classes with Mr. Danvers, who often told Alvin of her talent, but he didn't know that she was that good. Lifting it up, he stood.

"This is amazing, Ash." She blushed even brighter.

"I-It's just s-something I'm p-playing with." She brushed off, picking up her last book, "Not amazing like your art…" She trailed off, before freezing; it wasn't hard to tell that Alvin didn't want to talk about his secret identity. Alvin just grinned.

"Every artist is different, Ash." He reassured, "Why haven't you joined the art show? With an art skill like that, you could easily get in." She just shrugged.

"I just never really got up the nerve. I'm nowhere near as good as the others in that art show." She underplayed. Alvin frowned.

"Hey Ash, would you like me to help you?" She looked up at that, eyes wide.

"Y-you want to help _m-me_ with my art?" She whispered, stunned. He smiled encouragingly at her.

"Of course. You're a friend; and you have a real talent. I have to do an interview," He pouted here, making her giggle lightly, "But I could come over to your house tonight to help with it."

"That-that would be great! Thank you." She exclaimed, hugging him tightly, before pulling back, blushing again, "S-Sorry." Alvin just chuckled, handing her back her drawing book.

"It's fine Ash." The bell rang here, "I have to get to class, but I'll see you tonight, 'K?" She nodded rapidly at that before heading to her class, practically skipping. Turning, he saw Brittany standing in front of him, grinning.

"What was that about?" She wondered. Alvin shrugged, grinning as they made their way to math class. Alvin grinned, explaining what happened and their plans for tonight.

"That's great; Ashley is such a great girl- all she needs is a little confidence and she can achieve anything." Brittany stated, as they slid into their desks in math. That class passed quickly, as they had a math test that took up pretty much the whole class, people too focused on the test to even glance at Alvin once.

After the bell rang, Brittany and Alvin split as Alvin headed to workshop. The afternoon was a lot better than the morning, as in workshop, they split up to finish the projects that were their finals for the class. As he was now revealed as The Mysterious Painter, Alvin was going all out and creating one of those artistic chairs that were often shown during the art show- He'd never done one before, but had always wanted to.

Before he knew it, the bell rang. Putting his started project away, he headed on to art, both excited and nervous for this class. Walking into the class, he saw that all the students were setting up their supplies.

"Alvin?" He turned to see Mr. Danvers standing in the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"I've been told that you are going to do an interview for the reporters after school, and that you wanted to use my class." Mr. Danvers explained which Alvin nodded at, "Well, you welcome to use my class for it."

"Thanks Mr. Danvers." He nodded, smiling, before walking into the classroom and to his desk. Alvin took a deep breath before entering after him, heading back to his usual seat. Setting down his backpack, he headed to the closet to grave his supplies and a new art board. Setting it up on his easel, he pulled out his sketchbook.

"Alvin?" Looking up, he saw Mr. Danvers smiling at him, a mischievous look in his eyes, "As you now don't have to keep your secret, I expect you to truly participate from now on."

"Yes Mr. Danvers." He stated, smiling before moving back to his easel. Opening up to the drawing from this morning, which he finally finished after the test in fourth period math, he dangled it over the top of his art board. Pulling pencils out of his art box, he got to work, copying the drawing full sized onto the art board.

It was refreshing to actually draw in art class and not having to worry about people seeing it. This drawing was what he was going to turn in for the final in this class that was due a few days before the last day of school. Towards the end of class, Mr. Danvers once again spoke up.

"Ok, everyone get in a circle." At his words, everyone stood, placed their backpacks and art boxes in the back of the room against the wall. They moved their easels into the middle of the room, resembling a circle. Pulling their chairs up to their easels, they stared at Mr. Danvers who sat just across the circle from Alvin.

He went around the room clockwise as each student showed the beginnings of their final project, other's commenting on the student's drawing; both praising it and giving constructive criticisms on it. When they finally reached Alvin, he smiled slightly as everyone held their breaths.

"Alvin?" Mr. Danvers stated, after the student next to Alvin was done. Reaching over, Alvin turned his easel around so everyone could see his drawing, his sketchbook still hung over the top. Everyone gapped in awe at the drawing, even thought it was barely even close to finished compared to the sketchbook drawing.

"I got this idea the other day; it's been hard to truly get it down on paper, but I finally did today. I thinking I'm going to go for more of a pencil drawing this time, than oils or paints…" He continued on, explaining how he wanted to stick to black and while in the drawing, and the few colors around those, such as gray. Finally, he sat back and waited for someone to speak.

"It's amazing." One student finally stated after a few moments of silence. He swallowed as everyone turned to look at him, "I-It's different from your usual paintings," He added, hinting at Alvin's prior secret identity, which Alvin nodded at, "But it's very detailed in the sketchbook and that already looks great."

The tension seemed to be released as more students went on to speak about his painting, complimenting it and some even bringing up things he could add. Soon, they moved on to the next person and the next. As Alvin looked around the room, sometimes complimenting others on their drawings and what they could do to improve them, he smiled.

He was worried this morning about school today and how it would affect the rest of the year. But, now he had an interview after school to discuss his life as The Mysterious Painter, and he would be going over to Ashley's house tonight to help her with her drawing. Even more, he was finally included in his art class and could finally say all the things he'd wanted to say over the years. Yeah, life was going good; and Alvin was happy for all that would come along…

 **And that's the end of this story! I am so proud of this story, and am still so amazed I finished it so fast; I mean, it was just a little idea I came up with one day after doing the dishes and I sat down to writing it. I had so many different goals; 20,000 words seemed so far fetched. But soon it reached 7,000, than 10,000. The 14,000 and it kept rolling from their until I wrote(according to Microsoft Word) 38,543(including plot summary)...Well, until next time I update a story!**


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